Can I use soot for kindling?

I am writing a novel, and my main character, who is stranded on an island, is currently responsible for rediscovering fire. There are two other boys on the island who were there before him, and they already know how to make fire. However my main character Killian can't ask them for help because he is sneaking out at night against their commands. Hey have already gone to bed and the fire has been thoroughly put out.

But unfortunately I don't know much about surviving on an island or anything close to it, so that is why I am doing the well-deserved research. So my actual question is: would what I have actually pan out? Here it is.

Killian finds a branch suitable for a torch. He finds a pile of soot in the fireplace, and thoroughly smothers one end of the rod in the soot. He then finds a smaller stick and positions it upright in relation to the torch. He uses a friction method to light a spark on the wood, and bam he has fire?

There it was. Would that actually work to create a fire? It probably is not and that is why I want to catch it before i get too far into the story. At this point it is still very easy to change things without consequence.

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