[ddebernardy]

Exactly this. And it's also worth pointing out that before matches were a thing, the main way to start your fire when yours went out was to go to a neighbor's place with some kind of combustible (torch, lantern) or a container to bring back some ember.

[kstenerud]

This was actually the premise for the film "La Guerre de Feu" or "Quest for Fire".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Fire_(film)

[iguy]

Which is precisely what the first sentence of TFA discusses.