Camp fires in the bush

I agree.

Mike Harding

Yep, no argument.
We've tended to use a trench in recent years, with the dirt mound upwind. When we've finished breakfast, we clean out any rubbish then totally bury it. We try to "leave no trace" but always get a bit of a mound.

I know where you are coming from but did the fires burn out or were they not COVERED with dirt ??

In other words were they left unattended AFTER people had left their campsites.

If so, shoot them ( if you can catch them )

I use common sense.

In the middle of winter where the fire is in an enclosure surrounded by grass and wet ground, I let it burn out. If it's physically impossible for anything to catch fire I'm not concerned.

In dry country we always put it out before bed; I don't want to fry overnight.

We rarely camp away from water so there is always plenty to douse it with.

It's not nuclear science, but some people are just plain stupid.

Sounds like a good idea in a sandy area. Just be careful in wooded areas where buried coals can get into roots and burn for weeks. This has happened in pine forrest where we often go for weekenders.

It's all commonsense and basic bush-craft, Willem. Sadly, commonsense in the bush appears as rare as cheap fuel nowadays.

Some people just don't give a stuff about anyone but themselves. On the way home from Brisbane last week, I watched a carload of d*ckheads tearing down the Pacific Hwy throwing rubbish including glass bottles out the windows in a roadwork zone (40km/h), while travelling at about 100km/h.

These people just don't have a brain and shouldn't be allowed to hold a licence.

I sometimes piddle on the fire to make sure it's out. Who hasn't done that before fellas!

A problem with putting sand or soil over your camp fire is that it can stay hot for days. the next person to come along may step on it and get burnt. This happened to me. Someone had covered a hot fire with sand and left. I came along and because it was a very sandy area I had taken my shoes off. The blisters I received were most uncomfortable. Lucky it wasn't some young kids running around after being trapped in a car for hours.

Some national parks info boards warn against burying a fire but to extinguish it with water before leaving it, for this reason.

G"day,

I always try to manage my fires in advance. i don't go overboard with a rager, just use the bigger timber at night and save some smaller stuff for the morning. It does not need to burn all night. My billy bidgi don't not need much heat for the morning bacon and eggs and brew. If it is a cold morning I'm rugged up already and the exposed fingers warm up while putting the breakfast together.

I've got little voices inside my head that bug me when I'm about to leave camp if I am not totally happy the fireplace is no longer active. With the smaller fire in the morning it is easy to extinguish. At break time timber is now reduced to coals or ash so the bed gets a turn to release the bulk of the heat and then dishwater, piss etc. is used. Although it is a dirty job, I sift (carefully) the bed with my hands for a temperature check. Can't be too paranoid when it comes to fire and departure time does not over rule attention to this.

That's my gig anyway.

http://www.fire.qld.gov.au/communitysafety/freesafetydownloads/pdf/campfire_safety.pdf#search=%22children%20burnt%20feet%20camp%20fire%20sand%22

Regardless whether the fire has gone out or not, it pays to cover it with soil or sand.

Besides the danger of an unmonitored fire getting out of control, there is the aesthetic aspect to consider as well.

When using water, do you splash the water on? If you just tip it, you make a bit of a mess and don't necessarily get all the coals out. Its amazing how little water you need if you just "flick" it out of the bucket or wash up bowl around all the coals. Lots of steam and hissing, but a cold bed of ashes very quickly, ready to bury.

And about all the dills who leave fires burning etc, I love the phrase in a book written 100 years ago by the bloke who invented Boy Scouts: "The bigger the fool, the bigger the fire".

Just look around any camp site and see if he was right.

Max

I am always careful in regard to fire .......... A good dose of C.D.F goes along way and i make sure the fire is out before I leave. I do cover it and not leave the ash and coals to be an eyesore to others.

I firgure most responisble people would do the same.

Brian

I often spread the coals which allows the fire to go completly out fairly quickly. A covered fire can smoulder for days. As a kid we had a "pet" fire out the back of the school and every evening after school we would dig it up and get it restarted before covering it again for tomorrow.
If it is windy however I cover it

In Ningaloo on our recent trip (beach camps with scrub) the managers ask campers to dismantle your fire pit and put the cold coals back onto the scrub to assist with the revegetation. They even suggest that people use a sieve to keep the sandy campsites free of coals - this is more to keep it clean but interesting that they encourage the tossing of coals back into the scrub. They are spending enormous amounts of effort to do everything (research, document, educate) people to do the best to keep this land pristine in the hope that they wont loose their lease in 2015 back to the Govt. I only say this to illustrate they have a vested interested in researching what methods are best for revegetation and what to do with coals. Sounds to me that from an environmental point of view that spreading the coals is not a poor choice - provided commonsense is used to avoid making a damn mess of the camp area!

Nice to read that so many of you think about these things. If you are interested in looking at more articles on this topic we also have a Travel Etiquiete article (with a section on Campfires) - see www.exploroz.com/InfoPages/TripPrep11.asp

Yep don't cover fireplace here , apart from possibility of re-igniting and other saftey issues as outlined - by leaving it visible , its more likely someone next coming along to camp will use same place instead of making new one.

Robin Miller