Camp With Responsibility And Avoid Wildfires

A campfire is a basic part of any camping experience, especially when camping in winter.

Learning to build a strong roaring fire is considered a campsite success! However, enjoying a roaring campfire will always come with responsibility. It is your job to properly maintain and extinguish your campfire so that no hazards may occur. According to experts, including Smokey Bear, some wildfires occur naturally, but people who are careless or unprepared cause most of them. For this reason, we all have a part in preventing them.

Camping wisely is the best way to prevent wildfires. It is vital before heading out on a camp trip, to learn how to build up your campfire, how to maintain it, but most importantly, how to put it out. Therefore, today we would like to share with you some campfire tips. We’ll begin at the end because you shouldn’t learn how to build a fire if you can’t put it out!

How To Put Out A Campfire

Remember to never leave a campfire unattended. Even a small breeze could cause the fire to spread quickly. If it is too hot to touch, then it is too hot to leave. Once you are ready to call it a night, you should put out your fire. To accomplish this in a proper and safe way, just follow these steps:

Allow the wood to burn completely to ash, if possible.
Drown the fire pouring lots of water on the fire. Make sure all embers, coals, and sticks are wet. Drown all of them, not just the red ones.
Use a shovel to stir the campfire ashes and embers. Move rocks, as there may be burning embers underneath.
Stir the remains, add more water, and stir again. Pour until hissing sound stops. Scrape the sticks and logs to remove any embers. Stir and make sure everything is wet and they are cold to the touch.
If you do not have water, use dirt. Mix enough dirt or sand with the embers. Continue adding and stirring until all material is cool. Do not bury your coals as they can smolder and break out.
Remember: do NOT bury the fire as the fire will continue to smolder and could catch roots on fire that will eventually get to the surface and start a wildfire.

Other Safety Tips for Camping

Don’t burn dangerous things!
Never burn aerosol cans or pressurized containers. They may explode.
Never put glass in the fire pit. Glass does not melt away, it only heats up and shatters. Broken slivers of glass are dangerous.
Aluminum cans do not burn. In fact, the aluminum only breaks down into smaller pieces. Inhaling aluminum dust can be harmful to your lungs.

Remember always to carry with you the proper gear to make your camping trip a great and memorable adventure. It is vital to bring special cooking gear, first aid kit, a flashlight, a good backpack and of course, the proper camping tent. If you want to enjoy a nice camping tour, but can’t afford to buy the complete equipment, specialized shops such as Outdoors Geek, offer the possibility to try the gear first or just rent it for the time required.