Campfire and Cooking Safety

Enjoy cooking on a campfire safely

An open fire is often one of the most enjoyable parts of camping and the outdoors, lending itself to cooking, warmth and of course, plenty of stories! But if it is not constructed, used and extinguished correctly it can also easily cause a catastrophic bush fire, especially in hotter and drier places on the planet.

Using a Red Roads Blaze-n-BBQ is the ideal way of containing and cooking with an enjoyable campfire, but never the less, it is imperative/important that everyone understands how to safely do so.

 Before you light a campfire:

• To reduce fire risks, always check the weather conditions in your camping area.
• Do not light or maintain a campfire on dry, windy days.
• Do not light or maintain a campfire during a total fire ban or when local warnings are very high, severe, extreme or catastrophic.

 Tips for building your campfire safely:

• Only light a fire in a safe location that is clear of flammable vegetation. Remove branches, leaves and twigs from the ground and the area above the flames to create a suitable and safe clearing around the fire.
• Create a border around the fire using large rocks. It’s important to remember to return items back to their natural surroundings and conditions for the future enjoyment 0f others.
• If you are not using a Blaze+BBQ or similar, use a pre-built fireplace if provided or dig a trench (30 centimetres deep) to house the fire and prevent embers from flying out.
• Ensure that tents and other camping equipment are well away from the fire. Especially flammable items such as gas cylinders and fuel cans.
• Never use flammable liquid or fuel, such as petrol or diesel, on a fire even when you are trying to get it started.
• Further to Red Roads Fire Hardware, you should take the same safety precautions when using appliances with naked flames, such as gas stoves and gas lanterns, as they can be blown over by wind and cause a fire.

 Look after your campfire:

• Keep your fire just big enough for cooking and keeping warm.
• Never leave your fire unattended.
• Children and pets should be supervised at all times when near a fire
• Use only fallen dead wood. Branches or leaves from living trees damages the environment and can cause high levels of smoke.
• Keep a bucket of water nearby.
• Extinguish your fire at night.
• Take care when approaching a fire that looks extinguished, hot ashes and embers may still exist.
• Make sure your fire is completely extinguished by using water
• Do not use soil to extinguish a fire. Fire can continue to smoulder under soil and stay hot for extended periods of time. This is a danger to others in the area once you have gone.

Basic campfire safety:

• Do not burn dangerous or highly flammable items.
• Never put glass in your campfire as it will melt, shatter or explode, causing injuries.
• Never put unopened tins of food on a fire as they could explode, causing injuries.
• Know the contact details of local authorities to report any fires.

Happy Campfires!

At Red Roads, when we camp, #WeCampWell