The Leduc Naturalist: Campfires and other liabilities
While less than 1 per cent of last year’s fires in Alberta were arson related, at least half were human caused. I’d like to call them “accidents”, but very few were. It comes down to gross liability. We know about the all-too-common campfire story, where someone hikes or drives away from a fire that has not been completely extinguished. A sudden gust of wind can breath new life into an old fire and throw embers into surrounding fuel loads. Even campground fire rings are not immune from this. I can remember seeing public service addresses on this when I was a kid, but we’ve moved away from this just as we’ve moved away from our connectedness to the wilderness. Hot mufflers in tall grass, sparks from trains, cigarettes tossed mindlessly aside, industrial “hot work” without proper surveillance and clean-up, and unattended burn barrels without spark arresters all account for much of our dilemma. I pine for a few of those old-fashioned PSA’s, to combat our ADHD. By the way, the proper techniques to avoid those renegade campfires are to first build them on rocky, gravelly, or mineral soil locations, away from surrounding fuels. Contain the fire within a rocky structure, using stones not taken from stream beds (saturated rocks explode from steam pressure). Ensure the fire is only as large as required, and when finished with it, douse it several times with water, stirring the ashes thoroughly. Check for any latent heat by placing your hand in close proximity. Fire safety is not difficult, it simply takes a little thought.