Fire Safety at Your Campsite

6/23/2020 (Permalink)

Learn and practice proper campfire safety

With summer upon us and loads of people wanting to get out of their houses amid the coronavirus, camping and the good ole outdoors has taken famously with the public. SERVPRO of Pewaukee & Sussex would like to remind you of some basics when it comes to maintaining and extinguishing your campfire at your campsite. It is your responsibility to maintain and extinguish it to prevent wildfires.

1. Never cut whole trees or branches, dead or alive. Live materials won’t burn and dead standing trees are often homes for birds and other wildlife.
2. Once you have a strong fire going, add larger pieces of dry wood to keep it burning steadily.
3. Don’t burn dangerous things like aerosol cans, pressurized containers, glass or aluminum cans. They could explode, shatter and/or create harmful fumes or dust.
4. Keep your fire to a manageable size.
5. Never leave your campfire unattended.
6. Allow the wood to burn completely to ash.
7. Pour lots of water on the fire. Drown ALL embers, not just the red ones. Pour until hissing sound stops.
8. If you do not have water, stir dirt or sand into the embers with a shovel to bury the fire.
9. With your shovel, scrape any remaining sticks and logs to remove any embers. Make sure that no embers are exposed and still smoldering.
10. Continue adding water, dirt or sand and stirring with a shovel until all material is cool.

11. If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave

Keeping these steps and reminders in mind will not only keep you safe, but keep the campground or nature area you are visiting safe as well!

*Source: smokeybear.com