Fire Keeper: a 3D fireplace you light and tend in your browser
Fire Keeper is a free 3D fireplace that runs in your web browser. You build the fire yourself — newspaper, kindling and split logs — strike a match, and watch the fire catch, crackle, settle into embers and finally turn to ash. The burning is simulated piece by piece (heat, moisture, charring), not a looping video. In Korean this quiet pastime of gazing at a fire is called 불멍 (bulmeong).
What you can do
- Lay a fire with newspaper, kindling, split logs and round logs, or let Quick lay stack a standard fire for you.
- Choose from ten wood species — oak, birch, pine, maple, ash, cherry, apple, black locust, larch and cedar — each with its own density, heat and crackle.
- Tend it with real tools: hand, tongs, poker, ash shovel, hearth brush, bellows, matches and a long lighter.
- Speed time up to ×60 to watch a fire burn all the way down, or keep it at real speed.
- Turn on Gaze mode to hide the controls and just watch the fire.
- Listen to a crackling, hissing fire whose sound is synthesised from the simulation, with no recordings.
- Play with a mouse, a trackpad, the keyboard (keys 1–8 pick tools) or touch, in English or Korean.
How to light the fire
- Check that the damper is open — in Fire Keeper it already is.
- Lay two split logs on the grate with crumpled newspaper between them, kindling across them and one more split log on top (or press Quick lay).
- Pick the match or the long lighter and hold the flame to the newspaper under the wood.
- When the kindling is burning well, add more wood a little at a time, keeping the pieces close together.
Frequently asked questions
What is Fire Keeper?
A 3D fireplace simulator in your web browser. You stack the wood, strike a match and tend a fire whose burning is simulated, from the first flame to the last ember.
Is Fire Keeper free?
Yes. It runs in the browser at no cost and needs no sign-up.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It runs in a modern desktop or mobile browser that supports WebGL 2.
Does it work on phones and tablets?
Yes. On touch screens you tap and drag to use the tools and pinch to zoom.
What does 불멍 (bulmeong) mean?
불멍 is a Korean word for zoning out while gazing at a fire: 불 (bul) means fire and 멍 (meong) a blank, restful stare.
Is the fire realistic?
The fire is simulated rather than animated: each piece of wood heats, dries, chars, flames, glows as embers and turns to ash according to its species, size and moisture, so no two fires burn the same.
Can I leave it running as a relaxing background?
Yes. Gaze mode hides the controls and shows only the fire, burning at real speed, with its sound.
Which languages does it support?
English and Korean. The English version is at the site root and the Korean version under /ko/.
Who makes Fire Keeper?
Fire Keeper is made by Ponderloft.
When you light a real fire
The fire here is a simulation. With a real fire, always take care to prevent a house fire:
- Never leave a fire unattended.
- Keep curtains, paper, clothing and anything else that burns well away from it.
- Keep the room ventilated and watch for carbon monoxide.
- Keep children and pets away from the fire.
- Put it out completely, embers too. Ashes can stay hot for days.
- Keep a fire extinguisher or other means of putting it out close at hand.