The assumption that you can simply just leave a campfire unattended for a short period of time without any consequences has been around for quite a substantial amount of time, literally since the beginning of time basically.
But this is a far skewed, and quite dangerous assumption to make. Many who do leave a fire unattended typically do so without thinking of the consequences that could occur over even a short duration of time. All that needs to happen is a slight difference in weather change and that small campfire could turn into a raging forest fire.
Simply a gust of wind, as thousands of acres could soon after be burned. To be honest, I’d be willing to bet that the majority of forest fires are started due to negligence, and unsupervised fires. Some wonder if there is a safe way to go about leaving a fire for a short period of time.
I’m assuming this is because small tasks come up that need to be taken care of immediately, and obviously you don’t want to put out the fire you would just spend the past 10 minutes trying to start, so they figure “i’ll just be a second”. The famous last words before all hell breaks loose…
Never Leave A Fire Unattended! (Even For A Moment)
Whether you had something come up that you need to address immediately, or you would like to let the campfire burn throughout the night in an attempt of either retaining warmth as you sleep, or preventing wildlife from entering your camp.
Whatever your reasoning behind having the campfire, you should never leave it unsupervised. This means, you must be fully conscious, and there present with the fire as it burns. You should never attempt to leave a fire burning throughout the night while you sleep. As well, you should never walk away from a fire as it burns. Even if it is for a moment. Never do it!
You see, fire is like a child, the moment you leave either unsupervised the world can be flipped upside down.
I have heard countless stories, both from family members as well as news articles and sources alike. Typically the stories go, some friends were sitting around a campfire, partying and having a good time, but late into the night they slowly drifted off and fell asleep as the campfire continued burning.
Well, depending on the story. Either one of the members of the group rolled over into the fire, or the weather turn to the worst and the smoldering flame quickly made its way outside of the fire pit due to the wind forcing it.
personally, long time ago on my uncle told me have a story where he and some people I went to school with went out into the woods and had a camp fire. Of course like many young adults too they took along party drinks with the intentions of having a good time.
Well, late into the night they all fell asleep around the campfire, and at some point one of the members of the group had rolled over and placed his foot directly into the fire pit as it continued to burn. Of course, the man was knocked out quite heavily due to the extensive partying he had done just hours ago.
Shortly after a man place his foot inside the fire, a member of the group heard him groaning in his sleep. Quickly realizing what the man had done the member jumped up and grabbed his foot and pulled it out of the fire. But at this moment it was too late. An extensive amount of damage had already been done. Of course, they got help and all, but to this day the still is dealing with the repercussions of that night.
Simply put, many dangerous things can come from leaving a fire unattended. Even if it is a small fire, you should never leave it unsupervised. Because, the small fire can quickly turn into a big fire which then turns into a massive fire that cannot be stopped without massive amounts of resources.
Can You Leave Embers Burning Unattended? (Coals)
Typically, the best way to go about putting a fire out is to first let the fire thoroughly burn all of the wood that is inside the pit. Essentially, leaving nothing but embers (otherwise know as coals) inside the pit which will eventually cool on its own.
However, if you intend on leaving before the coals have cooled on their own, it is vitally important that you do not leave the fire at this stage. Even if it is down to the embers, the embers are still extremely hot and a simple breeze, or change in weather patterns can quickly spread the embers and turn the area into a flaming abyss.
Me personally, the location where I go camping quite often is surrounded by a couple other nearby campsites. Looking back my historical record of camping trips to this location. There is one time we were out there camping on a weekend, along with another group who was camping about 100 yards to the north of us. Well, on the second day we were out there this group decided to pack up and leave.
Shortly after they left we decided to walk down to where their campsite (just to go for a walk). Well, as we got there we noticed a small amount of smoke coming from the campfire. As we got closer to their smoldering campfire we had noticed that there was still flame hovering above the hot embers.
I was utterly amazed at this point that somebody would be so careless as to do something of the sort. I mean, a slight gust of wind and it would have immediately lit up the weeds around. Quickly turning the place where I have gone camping since is was a baby into a barren wasteland of burnt vegetation. Not to mention the danger those people would have put my family and I in, had their unattended, fully functioning fire, caught the vegetation around on fire.
Simply never leave a fire until you have thoroughly put it out. This means dousing it in water to the point you could theoretically touch the contents inside the fire pit without the risk of being burned. (Never actually touch the hot contents inside the fire pit).
Can You Leave A Fire Burning Through The Night?
Again, if you are not going to be there presently with the fire, or consciously. Then it is never a good idea to leave a fire going. Like you would never leave a child unsupervised yeah, as they could easily get into an extensive amount of trouble. You should never leave a fire unsupervised, as it could quickly turn into a blazing forest fire.
Or it could turn into a situation like described above and you, or one of your buddies could end up burning themselves during the night. There a lot of dangers that can occur from simply leaving a fire burning through the night. Not only to yourself and the group, but also to the vegetation and wildlife that surrounds.
When I go camping, I enjoy sitting by the fire late into the night. I mean, the sound of the campfire popping, the light sound of crickets, and the mysterious glow of the flames gives me a sort of satisfaction that can only be experienced as I sit there by the fire enjoy the clear night sky high up in the mountains where light and other obstructions cannot get in my way. However, I never head to bed without thoroughly dousing the fire before I leave the pit (dousing to me is, filling the pit full of water…).
I guess you could say i’m overly cautious. But when it comes to handling fire, I don’t believe there is such a thing as overly cautious… you see, I have grown up in an area where a lot of forest fires happen during the summer months. And it always makes me nervous whenever I see search things occurring. Because the location to which each fire burns is going to cause the area to feel as much less then it did before the fire took out all the vegetation. So I guess this has cause to to be extra cautious when im handling fire.
Conclusion
If you have made it this far into this article, I along with many others who enjoy the backcountry I want to personally thank you. For taking action, as well as educating yourself on how to properly attend a campfire.
I understand the temptation of needing to leave I campfire unattended for a short period of time every now and then, as I get the same temptation when I’m out experience the pleasures of nature, and a campfire.
But you need to fight this urge, and never leave a campfire unattended. Otherwise you could end with the responsibility a starting a large forest fire in the area the damages many acres of land, as well as put many lives at risk.
Simply put, if you are not going to be with the campfire presently, or consciously then it is a good idea to put the fire out and simply started back up when you get back into camp, or wake up in the morning.
I strongly urge you to take this advice and never stray from it. Is it very likely could end up saving lives, as well as protecting the environment many of us like to explore it.
I hope you were able to gain some value from this. If you have any further questions regarding basic camping etiquette I suggest you check out the outdoor luxuriez general camping center for further information!
Otherwise, I wish you a good time on your next outing!
This is colt signing off!
