I burn about 6 cords a year. Spruce, hemlock, and a bit of alder. Might have to light the fire 4 or so times through the course of the season.

It’s still too warm to run the stove much this year. Temps still in the low 40’s. Lit it yesterday just to feel it and see the flames and it made me think to bring up the method with you members.

Been warm here also.
OK with me. Dry too.
Rough guess I say there's
5 cord here and its never enough.
Can't give spruce away here but
it's not the same as AK spruce.
Mainly it grows way faster here
and is pithed up. Mostly Norway,
some Colorado locally.

You burn what you have available, hemlock and spruce aren't my choices either, but if that is what you have available they will burn when dry. Alder isn't bad firewood, burned a lot of it as a kid. Here tamarack and red fir are the sought after firewood, we don't have the hardwoods that ya'll back east do. I cut a little cherry from time to time, it burns great but it doesn't split well and it doesn't grow very big. Ideally when I'm cutting firewood I like a tree that is big enough the bar won't reach through it from one side, but not so big that I can't cut rounds off by simply walking around and sawing in from both sides. Doesn't take long to make a load when you are cutting wood like that, without too much screwing around.

Top down, bottom up, they both work. If you want a hot fire fast, use a little used motor oil it burns hot and a long time to really get the wood going. Had to quit the motor oil trick after I got married, the wife really complained about me using it in the house. I usually only build a fire when I've been gone for days anyways, otherwise I don't let it go out.

I honestly thought this thread was about what our president elect will hopefully be doing with the various alphabet agencies…. As far as the OP’s intended question, I have found it works well and is much easier to build as well.

I have lit some that way

generally when I have a bigger pile

in my wood stove it drafts well putting 2 larger pieces front to back on the right and left with small stuff on top of that , is is a low fire box so not much room to go up

but a big brush pile start a little log cabin with dry wood about chest high on one side of the pile , you can really get that going and it works to get everything else going.

trying to get too much going at once smokes out your starter fire

letting the starter fire get good and hot then drop down through as it burns seems to work well

I'll try it never had much problem starting a firah though. Very high humidity and foggy no wind weather is harder for me to get things going.

Kinda lazy
Recycled products and a torch

a good way to think about a top down fire or really any fire

you are heating the wood to the point it gasses , smoke is unburnt wood gas

if you have a top down fire the smoke rises through the heat and burns increasing the heat , more heat makes more wood gas which makes more heat and it keeps building

with a bottom lit fire you can actually have a good hot fire under it but it has to heat up everything above it and that smokes a lot until it gets up to temp

A good splash of diesel and a small propane torch, I don't have time for fancy stick building. I had a friend in college that was a Eagle Scout (not bashing scouts at all), he was going to light the campfires on a Spring break camping trip a few of us went on one year. After setting around watching him try to start a fire for 15 minutes the "appropriate" way he was relieved of his duties!

Today I lit mine sideways.
Real dare devel lol.

Dang motion valve is leaking on the splitter.
Anyone fix one?

Newspaper and kindling is all put in stove and light it. Than when it is going throw in a piece of wood and I have never had a problem. No big wood in to start with.