Summer Safety Tips: Making Sure Your Campfire is Fully Extinguished

Minnesota summers are some of the most beautiful for being outdoors, especially for the residents of Maple Plain, Independence, Baker Park and Medina. Our convenient west metro location has enough rural charm that many families can host cozy campfire nights in their very own backyards.

While roasting marshmallows and exchanging campfire stories is always good fun, it can be easy for families to forget fire safety. Campfires may be small, but they are also dangerous when not fully extinguished, harming members of your party and the surrounding environment.

90% of forest fires are caused by humans. Review these tips to avoid becoming part of that statistic.

Never Leave a Fire Unattended

All it takes is a small breeze for a fire to spread. Make sure someone is keeping an eye on the fire at all times, and keep children and pets at least three feet away from anything that can get hot.

If children are present at your gathering, consider assigning “shifts” for who will watch them. This may sound excessive, but when campfires are the leading cause of children’s camping injuries, it is always better safe than sorry.

How to Put Out a Campfire

Smokey the Bear has been warning Americans about wildfires since 1944, but not everyone has listened. In fact, there have been an average of 70,000 wildfires per year since 1983, and approximately 1,400 occur yearly in Minnesota. One major cause of wildfires is people not fully extinguishing their campfires.

When putting out your campfire, first drown it with water, then mix the embers and ashes with soil. Scrape the partially burned sticks and logs to ensure that they do not contain hot embers. Stir the embers once they are covered with water, ensuring that everything is wet. Feel the coals, embers, and wood with your hands and make sure all is cool to the touch. Also, be sure that there are no embers under the rocks.

Take another minute to add more water after this process. Scour your campsite for embers or sparks. Again, this may feel like an arduous process, but preventing a wildfire is always worth the few extra minutes of your time.

Make Safe Choices

All it takes is one false move to cause a fire incident. Something as simple as spraying bug or campfire spray into the fire can cause a flareup, especially if that spray is petroleum-based. Retrieving a fallen marshmallow or goofing around in close proximity to the flames are other common causes of injury.

Always be sure to err on the side of caution. Be mindful of activities within several feet of the fire, and be cautious if anyone in your party is drinking alcohol. You want to look back fondly on this evening because of the cozy atmosphere and campfire stories, not because someone had to go to the ER.

Enjoy Your Summer to the Fullest

At Maple Plain Fire Department, we hope you are able to enjoy a campfire under the stars with your loved ones this summer. However, if your fire gets out of hand, give us a call right away.

For more fire safety tips or to learn more about our department, come visit us on our website.