- Keep your fire small and use only small sticks and branches that you can break with your hands. Larger fires are hard to control. They also require a large amount of fuel, which means using more wood from the area than you should. Larger fires produce more heat than you need and are more difficult to cook over.
- Fires can damage soil and scar rock underneath them. To prevent this, use a fire pan for your fire when possible. This is a small, metal pan that is elevated a few inches above the ground. When a fire ring is available, use it. Fire rings should be free of nearby twigs, branches or other flammable material.
- Don't build a fire if it is windy enough that sparks and embers will blow out of it. If the weather has been especially dry and the fire hazard is high, consider not building a fire.
- Watch children when they are near a fire. Don't let them pull burning branches out of the flames or light the ends of branches on fire to play with. Tell them they can only put sticks in the fire after asking an adult and that anything burning must stay in the fire.
- Even if your fire is small and the wind is calm, don't leave the area until you have made sure that the fire is out. Dirt can insulate a fire, allowing embers and coals to remain hot underneath. Douse the fire with water completely, multiple times, until no more hissing or steam comes out of it. When possible, burn everything until it is only white ash before scattering your fire remains.
