"Firestarter logs are basically paraffin wax mixed with sawdust.
You mentioned you had used a candle to experiment with the wax. Yes, on a small scale wax is flame retardant. They are good fire insulators on a small scale, electrical wiring for example. However if you experiment on a small scale with wood or wool, you'd find the same thing would happen, plastic too.
Instead imagine this, you have a bright lamp that gets too hot, that catches a curtain on fire, and slowly heats the wax. As the wax melts it turns to oil, and gradually the heat increases to the point where it catches and AHH raging oil spill fire! (it's kind of how a candle works, wick is easy to burn, lights easily, the heat melts the wax into oil, and the wick continues to pull the oil for continued fuel).
If you're worried about it "catching" a flame just make sure its covered by a flame retardant surface (polished wood for example). Or you could insulate it will clay/mud."
Thanks for the info. Emily. This is really useful. We may decide not to use wax now. With regard to insulating with clay/mud, that would be my first choice. But with these mobile units, we need to keep the weight down. Clay/mud will get too heavy. More thoughts on cheap, light-weight fire resistant elements?
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