Originally posted by Niall197
("in the event a nuclear bomb explodes near you, do not light cigarettes, you may start a fire .... LOL)
I just remembered why not having a fire is important.
You may be burning wood/paper/cloth/other that is contaminated with radioactive fallout. This fallout is then put back into the air by the heat of the fire and could be blown out of the active zone into a non active zone and then that clean zone will then be contaminated by radiation, limiting your chances of getting food or water, or someone else's chances for that matter.
Your mostly waiting for a good rain storm to wash away most of the radio active debris into the sewers/ground. Further away from you the better. You can't drink the rain water at this time as it will be cleaning the air and it's most probable that the clouds will have contaminants in them at an early stage.
This is why a good shelter is important along with a supply of food and water, most essential is water. You can live for up to two weeks without food, but only about 4 days without water.
