The boys build a fire after Ralph tells them that they need a signal fire in order to help them to get rescued. They build the fire on the top of the mountain where it will be most clearly visible to any passing ships or airplanes. The boys use wood from a pocket of jungle growing near to the summit. The fire is eventually lit by Ralph, using Piggy's spectacles as a buring glass to focus the heat of the sun.
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Instead of going to the other side of island to check the fire the boys want to make a fort. The boys also want to roll rocks.
The fire is the boys' only hope of rescue from the island. When the boys go hunting and instead of minding the fire as Ralph instructed them to do, a ship passes by the island. Had the fire been lit, the people on the ship may have seen the signal and rescued the boys. This is why Ralph is angry; the other boys' disobediance ruined his chance of escaping the island.
Piggy was the last boy to reach the top of the mountain.
nearly starts a forest fire
the fire on top of the mountain was out. Jack had taken the boys who were supposed to be keeping the fire alight away to hunt, meaning the fire was unattended and there was no smoke for a ship to see and hence the boys be rescued