Proper Way to Put Out a Camp Fire

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A roaring fire is both a success, and a responsibility. It is your job to properly maintain and extinguish your campfire so that future campers can do the same.

Maintaining Your Campfire
As you’re enjoying your campfire, remember these safety tips:

  • Once you have a strong fire going, add larger pieces of dry wood to keep it burning steadily
  • Keep your fire to a manageable size
  • Make sure children and pets are supervised when near the fire
  • Never leave your campfire unattended
  • Never cut live trees or branches from live trees

Extinguishing Your Campfire

  • When you’re ready to put out your fire and call it a night, follow these guidelines:
  • Allow the wood to burn completely to ash, if possible
  • Pour lots of water on the fire, drown ALL embers, not just the red ones
  • Pour until hissing sound stops
  • Stir the campfire ashes and embers with a shovel
  • 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.

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.

REMEMBER: If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave!

Excerpt from: www.smokeybear.com

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