Lines 45-46

Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire;
Some coal I found that was lying around, and I heaped the fuel higher;

• Now, the speaker tells us just how the cremation went down.
• He takes some boards and some coal, and he tosses them into the ships boiler, which is the big oven that a riverboat would use to make steam to power it. He builds the fire up extra hot.

Lines 47-48

The flames just soared, and the furnace roared—such a blaze you seldom see;
And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal, and I stuffed in Sam McGee.

• The fire gets huge, turning into a roaring blaze. (After all that cold, Service really plays up these images of warmth).
• Then our speaker makes a hole in the coals and just jams his friend’s body right in there.