subject: Campfire Responsibility [print this page] I dont know about you all, but my favorite place while camping is sitting around the campfire. Many lifetime memories have been made while listening to the burning wood snap and crackle and watching the red hot embers fly around in the air like fireflies. But a great responsibility falls upon you from the second you ignite the first flames until you have put the blaze out 100 percent. When you are careless with the fire, catastrophic events unfold and harm our lands and wildlife, all around diminishing everyone elses experiences.
Before you build your wooden teepee or lay down your kindling, pay attention to where you are placing it. Look high and low. What I mean is, look above you for trees that might catch on fire from heat or from shooting projectiles that tend to jump out and then look at the ground and clear away dry material that would fall prey to flames. Many campsites have designated fire rings so use them. They have been put in those places for a reason. If you are hunkering down where there is no official pit, dig yourself a depression in the dirt to act like a ring or fashion one with rocks. This helps discourage flames from spreading out along a flat surface. When you make a hole in the ground, you will have excess dirt to smother with when you are putting it out too!
Once you have prepared your site, build your blaze nice and hot! But never leave it unattended. Even if all you have are coals, they can still ignite if something were to land on it from the wind. What if that happened to be a sock that was on a stool and it was half in half out of the pit? It could start up those flames again and give them a road to follow out into the open. Always have someone with knowledge on what to do to manage fire watching it.
If you know you will not be by any water or possibly will not have access to any, take plenty with you to be able to drown your fire out. The average blaze reaches 900 degrees Fahrenheit using your run of the mill dry pine. It will take more than one sixteen ounce bottle of water to bring that number down to a non-combustible one. As you pour on the water, steam will billow in protest. Keep pouring! There should be no more steam, no more red glowing areas on the wood, no more snapping and popping. Everything should be quiet.
After dousing it really well, smother it good with the dirt. Without oxygen, fire cannot combust. Sometimes water just doesnt put it all the way out, it will still be smoldering. Take this one extra step to make certain that as you are driving back home with all your happy memories floating around in your head, there isnt a nasty wildfire brewing because you failed to do your part and extinguish that campfire all the way.
Practicing fire safety is one of the best things you can do to keep the great outdoors beautiful for everyone! So when you are interested in RV Sales look for your local RV Dealer today.
