Campfires and cookouts are a lot of fun but families need to observe and follow safety practices to prevent summer accidents. Every year, some families end up driving to the emergency room due to a mishap that occurs when someone is not being careful around the campfire.
According to Lori Mickelson, who is a nurse at the UW Health Burn and Wound Centre, things can escalate quickly in a fire so it's always important to be on alert, compliant and prepared. The expert also recommends checking with local fire departments first before setting up a cookout to be more confident of the situation.
Here are more food and fire safety tips to prevent summer accidents during a campfire or cookout:
1. Skip the gasoline, kerosene or diesel.
Mickelson does not recommend using gasoline, kerosene or diesel to start a fire for the cookout because these can lead to deadly explosions as powerful as dynamite. Gasoline is also extremely flammable down to its vapors, which means it will be a lot tougher to contain if the fire spreads.
Expert outdoor grillers use other safer tools and techniques to create a tinder that will fire up the cookout. For instance, soaking extremely dry firewood in vegetable oil and newspaper is an effective trick. Some also invest in a chimney starter for creating a fire for coals without reaching out for lighter fluid.
2. Build the fire in a safe and open area.
The nurse advised setting up the campfire pit without any flammable objects around. If there are contents like paint, aerosol cans, or fireworks, these should be removed before lighting the campfire. The fire pit must be downwind and several feet away from the camp's tent. Add a few more distances from the tent if it's especially windy.
For added protection, use only reliable flame-retardant tents but be wary of the brand, given reports of cancer-causing flame-retardant chemicals, per Expert World Travel. It's also a very bad idea to cook inside the tent, even for just a small piece of food or boiling water.
3. Keep an extinguisher on hand.
Never ever start a cookout without any means of putting it out. Have a fire extinguisher on standby. The Fire Equipmen Manufacturers' Association has a comprehensive compilation of what fire extinguishers to invest in as there are more than five types. At any rate, a household should have a fire extinguisher even if they are not into cookouts.
If there are no fire extinguishers, then ensure that a hose or buckets of water are filled and ready, in case a fire breaks. A shovel to bury the fire in ash and dirt is also necessary.
4. Roast or grill with care.
The family member managing the cookout should not be drinking and should be wearing loose clothing and should tie their hair if it's long. If the clothes catch fire, stop cooking, drop to the ground, cover the face, and then roll back and forth until the fire is out.
The rest of the family should watch the kids or pets, who should never be too close to the cookout site. The campfire has to be attended all the time because the kids might try to jump on it.
