Fire Logs.

  It is well known that wax mixed with sawdust makes a fine incendiary. It
is not as well known that commercially available pressed-wood "fire logs"
are composed of exactly the same materials and can be easily modified for
use as incendiaries. Buy the cheapest ones available. The only differences
between them are the chemicals that the high-priced ones have to make
their flames prettier and the type of wood used (some use cedar for frag-
rance). For incendiary purposes, how the fire looks or smells is of no
consequence.
  The logs generally come in 3- to 6-pound sizes. Remove the wrapper and
saw them into 1-pound chunks. They saw easily, rather like cutting a large 
Tootsie Roll. Place each chunk in a paper lunch sack and heat in a micro-
wave oven for 3 to 5 minutes on 50 percent power (defrost setting) until
the log breaks apart. Time will vary with different ovens. If a microwave
is not available, heat a regular oven to 250 degrees for 10 minutes, then
turn it off. Place 1 sack at a time in the oven and warm until the log can
be easily broken apart, generally about 10 minutes. Watch the sack care-
fully and remove it from oven if it begins to smoke. Break up the chunk
until it forms a loose, coarse mixture resembling manure fertilizer. It
may be easier to to spread the chunks on a sheet of newspaper and break
them apart with a fork.
  While the sawdust is still warm, 1/2 cup of powdered charcoal or flour
may be added to increase its incendiary effect. Just add the powdered
material to the warm mix and shake the bag. It is now ready to use. The
bag can be lit with a match or delay ignitor. It will burn slowly at first,
then faster, with an increasingly hot flame. Unless a large amount of raw
wax and sawdust are available, commercial fire logs are the way to go.
Even top-of-the-line logs cost less than 50 cents a pound and are much
easier to fashion into explosives. The fire logs are common, innocuous,
and may be purchased without question or comment, especially during fall
and winter.

