I always used lighter knot to start a fire in the fireplace. Lighter knot is small pieces of the heartwood stump area of pine trees, and you can find them in the woods. Sometimes they're big stumps but you can also find smaller pieces laying on the ground. Way to tell is they're heavy wood from being loaded with rosin and they're a deep red color inside, and smell like turpentine when you break part of the wood to smell it. A regular log sized piece of lighter knot should be good for at least three fires. Just use a hand axe to cut small pieces if it's real good knot. A little lighter knot and a few pine cones, then some pine logs and then the oak is how I would do it.
Some places sell novelty bags of lighter knot but it's very expensive and you only get a little bag. Pine cones on top of wadded up newspaper works pretty good without lighter knot. Pine logs are necessary for a fast startup and they catch easily. They help the smaller pieces of oak catch. A bed of coals will build up quickly once the small oak burns, then put the larger pieces of oak on.
Before using the fireplace, it might be worth it to have a fireplace man come out to see if that drop under the rack is supposed to be there or if something is missing that should be there, like maybe a steel grating or something. Almost sounds like there could have been a gas line going in there at one time.
Les
