The Basics of Bonfire Safety

Series Summary

Roughing it in the great outdoors is one of the those activities that awakens something deep inside of us, reminding us of the relationship between man and Earth, reminding us to look at the greatness, the intricacy of the world around us. Many people in the post-industrial world are surrounded by the infrastructure of the city and must drive 30 miles out of town to find someplace semi-deserted and free from the concrete of man’s influence. Yet, even then some people even prefer to bring the city with them, only semi-roughing it with electricity, television, and air conditioning.

Whatever your preference, if you’re camping outdoors, you’ll probably need to know how to make a bonfire at some point. Fire is an important tool to have for cooking food and purifying water, for warmth and light, and for protection from wild animals at night. In this free video series, learn the proper way to make a safe, long-burning bonfire. Our expert will show you how to choose the right area in your campsite for the fire, how to build a fire pit, how to start a fire without matches, and how to properly put out the fire when you are ready to break camp and move on.

Video Transcript

"All right, we're here talking today about bon fires, camp fires, fire pits. And what we want to talk about before we even start our fire and get prepared for that, is fire safety. Very very important to be prepared for the worst, always expect the best, but prepare for the worst. And what we mean by that, when we're talking about fire is, have on hand, close by, the apparatuses that are going to allow you to put out a fire should it catch a piece of grass, and if its dry conditions and it starts burning. And all of a sudden you have windy conditions that kick up and start blowing the fire and blowing the embers out. And you're chasing it down, you don't want to be chasing them down and stomping on them. Very important is fire safety, and number one is keep yourself a five gallon bucket of water, filled on site, within reach. It doesn't have to be right by the fire pit. Twenty feet away, somewhere where you can reach it. So that if something starts happening right away, you've got access to water that you can dump on it right away. And the other thing is, a fire extinguisher. Make sure that you put a fire extinguisher close by, you won't have to worry about that. This is the kind of cannister that you don't want next to the fire. This is a gasoline cannister. You're going to keep these safe and secure, way way far away. So, fire safety, a bucket of water, a fire extinguisher and if possible, a hose that reaches the fire as well. "