The work aims to compare the thermal insulation of natural (Populus tomentosa, Metasequoia glyptostroboides) and artificial (MDF and particleboard) woods that are easy to obtain and can be used in the design of composite transport packaging containers under fire environment. A typical transport container simulation test piece consisting of a steel outer container, a wood interlayer and a steel inner container was designed. The field oil pool fire test with an average temperature of about 800 ℃ and duration of about 30 min was carried out. The temperature inside and outside the test piece and the wood carbonization were tested. The thermal insulation effects of the four kinds of wood were:Populus tomentosa, MDF, particleboard, metasequoia glyptostroboides from superior to inferior. When the thickness of the four kinds of wood was less than 120 mm, the difference of thermal insulation effect was large, and when the thickness reached 120 mm or more, the difference was reduced, and all of them could keep the temperature of the inner container at about 100 ℃ or below under the fire environment. Among the four kinds of wood, Populus tomentosa has the best thermal insulation effect, followed by MDF, particleboard, and finally Metasequoia glyptostroboides. The results of this study provide a reference for the thermal insulation design of radioactive composite transport containers.