Campfire Safety

Family Adventure

GOAL:

Prepare your family for camping season and to help avoid fires.

The ADVENTURE:

Learn fire safety principles.

TIPS:

Making a treat around your campfire is a great way to reward your kids for participating!

Use this time sitting around the fire to engage in conversation with your kids. Really listen to them and get to know what they are thinking, what matters to them, etc.  Take the time to learn and hear about their concerns and reasons.

Sitting around the fire is a great time to share stories from the past, and dream up stories from the future!

A great way to reward everyone is to sing campfire songs together! Choose some favorites, or make up some new ones!

Between January & June of 2021 more than 300 wildfires had sparked across the state of Utah — 90% were human caused. We just returned from New Mexico where the whole state seems to be on fire already-- it's barely May! With drought conditions this year, it's important to know and practice camp fire safety, as well as having some alternatives to a traditional campfire.

When campfires are not a safe option, consider using a propane stove or subbing battery operated flickering candles for the same feel.

If you have a campfire, check out these tips:

→Always have a bucket of water & shovel on hand

→Build a fire only in a permanently designated fire pit at a developed camp or picnic site.

→When it’s windy (20+ mph) avoid building a campfire altogether.

→When you’re done with your fire drown, stir & repeat until the coals are cool enough to touch.

→NEVER EVER leave a fire unattended, even for just a minute!

Campfires that get away from people or are left unattended are just one of the human-triggered causes of wildfires.

Here are a few others to watch out for:

→When rocks are used as a backstop for target shooting, the resulting ricochet sparks can easily ignite dry grasses and other close-to-the-ground fuels. Consider visiting a private or public shooting range instead.

→Don’t park a hot car or other machine in dry grass, even when pulling over on the side of the road. Make sure to inflate your vehicle's tires at the proper pressure to avoid the sparks that can be thrown in a blowout. Secure any tow chains to prevent sparking.

→Those heading out into the backcountry on an ATV should strap a fire extinguisher to their rig.

→Only launch fireworks on legal dates/in areas that permit fireworks to be launched. When lighting fireworks, have a fire extinguisher handy; have a bucket of water or garden hose available to wet down the surrounding vegetation.

🔁 Related Adventure: Go Camping

Pre-K Adventure

This is a great opportunity to discuss fire safety with your young children. Discuss your expectations for them while sitting around a campfire. (Ex: stay sitting, no rough housing, etc.) Also, remember to keep matches and lighters out of reach of children when packing for camping or after lighting a fire and setting these items down.

Community Engagement Adventure

Share this information with friends or extended family members!

🔥 You could put together a flyer to share campfire safety and distribute it to families on your street

🔥 Organize a neighborhood get together and hold a campfire safety workshop

🔥  Find or prepare some posts about campfire safety and share on your social media, by text, etc.

Let's keep our beautiful state safe!

Teen Adventure

This adventure is great for teens! Let them look up some campfire safety tips and share with the rest of the family. Let them build a campfire in the backyard for s'mores and then demonstrate for the rest of the family the 'drown, stir, repeat' method of putting out campfires.

Photo Location

Share a picture of your responsible campfire OR your alternative campfire.