Morsø Kamino — The Upright Fire
The Kamino is 1.8 metres of solid Danish cast iron, poured at the Morsø foundry in Nykøbing Mors — the same foundry that's been making cast iron stoves since 1853. It is an outdoor fireplace built around a single, unfashionable conviction: that the right material, in the right shape, doesn't need much else.
The shape is the upright column. It's tall enough to be seen from across the lawn, narrow enough to fit on a patio, and finished in Morsø's matte senotherm coating that weathers gracefully through years of rain and sun. Cast iron holds heat in a way steel never quite does — it warms slowly, then radiates for hours after the fire has died down. The Kamino is mobile and rotatable, so you turn it into the wind, and the shoulder seasons grow a month at each end.
It burns wood, briquettes, or coal — it isn't fussy about which. Add the optional Tuscan Grill accessory and the same column becomes a cooking station too: steak, fish, vegetables, all over live coals. It weighs ninety-three kilograms, which sounds like a lot until you remember it never has to be locked up.
For a piece this honest, the installation is as simple as it should be: choose where it lives, light it, and let 170 years of Danish foundry craft do the rest.
A small note: outdoor wood-burning appliances are subject to local bylaws and seasonal fire restrictions, which vary by municipality. Ask us about your area.
Cast iron, an upright shape, and a fire. Nothing else needed.
Questions people tend to ask
Am I allowed to burn it where I live?
Usually, but check before you buy rather than after. Outdoor wood-burning appliances are subject to local bylaws and to seasonal fire restrictions, and both vary by municipality — the indoor wood-burning rules people know about are a separate matter and do not govern this. Tell us your address and we will tell you what applies there, including what a dry summer is likely to mean for using it.
What can it burn?
Wood, briquettes or coal — it isn’t fussy about which, which is part of the charm of a design this unfussy.
Can I cook on it?
Yes, with the optional Tuscan Grill accessory the same column becomes a cooking station: steak, fish, vegetables, all over live coals. It is the rare outdoor fireplace that earns its place in the shoulder seasons twice over.
Does it need installing?
Barely. Choose where it lives, light it, and let 170 years of Danish foundry craft do the rest. It is mobile and rotatable, so you turn it into the wind rather than rearranging the patio around it.
Will it survive the weather?
It is built for it. The Kamino is 1.8 metres of solid Danish cast iron poured at the Morsø foundry in Nykøbing Mors, finished in Morsø’s matte senotherm coating, which weathers gracefully through years of rain and sun. At ninety-three kilograms it never has to be locked up, either.
Why cast iron for an outdoor fire?
Because of what happens after the flames drop. Cast iron holds heat in a way steel never quite does — warming slowly, then radiating for hours after the fire has died down. In practice the shoulder seasons grow by about a month at each end, which is the whole argument for having one.
A fireplace is only half of it. The other half is who places it.
Maxwell Fireplace is North Vancouver’s Creative FireSpaces™ — and we stay involved in every part of the job. The fireplace itself is ours from the first conversation to the final flame: design and placement, permitting, delivery, installation, and the care that comes after. When the work runs to a surround, a mantel, tile or millwork, we plan it with the trades doing it — yours, or ones we bring in — so the fire and the wall are drawn as one thing rather than two. One point of contact, and nothing lost in the gap between trades.
It’s exactly why a Morsø Kamino belongs with us. An outdoor fire answers to local bylaws and seasonal restrictions that vary by municipality, and to where it can safely stand in relation to the house, the deck, and everything overhead — and that is the difference between an appliance and a centrepiece. We serve homeowners and contractors across Greater Vancouver, the North Shore, and the Sea to Sky Corridor — Squamish to Whistler and Pemberton — and we’d love to show you what’s possible for your room.