Fire on the ground.
- Thread starter WAYAWAY
- Start date
Absolutely, I feel the same. I don't think I've had a fire for 20? years. I'm equally conscious of where I park.
We get there often during fire season. Just a fact of life. Our loggers are shut down for at least a month every summer and before they get shut down, they operate under strict restrictions shutting down operations by 11am, and posting a guy on a 2 hour fire watch with a readily available 5000 gollon water tanker.
Of course this is all long after the zero impact has been violated.
A lot of roads are gated. ATVs are banned. Vehicles MUST stay on the road surface.
The fine for flicking you butt is now over $1000.00. Altho I think a gallows ^^^^ would be more effective.... 1945 in BC
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This .... from BC Forest Service...
A campfire is an open fire that burns piled material no larger than 0.5 m in height and 0.5 m in width and is used by any person for recreational purpose, or by a First Nation for a ceremonial purpose.
Many British Columbians and visitors to our province enjoy campfires. To prevent your campfire from turning in to a wildfire be sure to:
- Check current campfire restrictions for the area you are in
- Select your campsite and campfire location carefully
- Remove all leaves, twigs and other flammable material from the area around where you plan to light your campfire
- Never have a campfire when it’s windy
- Choose a proper fire pit or make a ring of rocks at least three metres from trees, shrubs, structures and debris
- Do not leave a campfire unattended for ANY amount of time
- Keep a bucket of at least eight litres of water close by the fire at all time, and/or a hand tool (such as a shovel) to extinguish the fire properly
- Completely extinguish your campfire before you go to sleep or leave the area for any period of time.
- To extinguish your campfire, pour plenty of water on the fire and surrounding area, dousing the site of the campfire thoroughly. Stir the campfire until there are no embers and the ashes are cold to the touch.
- Campfire regulations (PDF, poster)
- Stoves & Campfires (PDF, pamphlet)
Member III
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I see nothing on that sign or the attachments that I have not done without someone telling me all of my life. I agree with all the standards of proper care of our lands. It's hard for me to understand why anyone would do anything differently, but I know there are many without such knowledge or instilled learning.
I was raised using these standards. Guess where the standards came from ? The cub scouts of America, where when I was a kid every boy and girl 9 years old were members. By the time we were 12 years old and ready to be promoted to the boy and girl scouts we were good citizens, knew the rules and were rewarded with merit badges to prove we had accomplished the goals of being a good and learned citizen. I passed on my knowledge to my children and so they are conscientious citizens as well.
I support citizen responsibility for the overall care of public lands. I do believe that the majority of OB members are good conscientious citizens and are setting good examples for us all, even outside the OB members range. I will not apologize for the few slobs in any group that break the rules, they should be punished when identified.
It's too bad that parents today have not supported the scouts for the past 50 years as they did prior to 1970.
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I wish Scouts would have been offered when I was a tyke. We briefly had a scout troop when I was 11. It lasted a bout a year until the scout leader’s oldest son died in a hunting tragedy. I think I only made it through one or two meetings without getting hurt. Making Kites I punched a pair of scissors through my fingers. We had done first aid training the week before, so the guys got their first aid badge. Then a few weeks later we built a soap box derby car and I got ran over... I think I quit after that one... I was better off on my own. They never went on a hike, or fishing, or really anything to do with nature. I started hiking with a close friend, and eventually started off roaring with a very select group of friends.
I learned to respect fire at an early age. We used it to heat our house, cook on, and was our water heater as well when the pipes coming out of the well would freeze. My grandpa was a fireman for the Union Pacific Railroad when they still used steam locomotives. Grandpa didn’t know how to make small fires. I remember being very young and looking up at the mountain behind our farm and seeing a plume of smoke. I told my mom, and she told me that Grandpa must have made a warming fire. Later we found out that he had found an old hallow snag and built a fire into it. The snag burned for days, and lit the night sky like a torch.
Now days something like that would probably land you in Jail, even though the snag was in a clearing that was at least 200 yards round covered in shale and on private property. The sight of that tree lighting up the night sky is a reminder to me how fast a fire can get out of hand. To this day, I don’t let a fire get bigger than what I can control with my available tools... if all I have is a trowel and a hatchet this means the fire ring is no larger than my hatchet Handel. When I am done I burry my fire and scatter my pit... Most times... I do have a spot that I frequent that I am slowly building a nice fire pit with a rock oven... but that is an exception...
...funny side note... I am working with the National Forest Service on a large campout to be held this fall. When I asked for ideas on where to host this camp, they mentioned my camp spot with the rock oven I built. The head Ranger said that the rock fire pit was one of the best fire rings he had seen built in years and is one of only a handful that he hasn’t destroyed on his travels through his Ranger District.
Just be mindful of where you build your fires, keep them small, and as for hauling your ash away, as long as you aren’t burning trash, just burry the cold coals.
Are you really surprised that parents no longer support the Boy Scouts these days?
Member II
I agree with @WAYAWAY 's sentiment in his opening post. Treat Lightly and PIPO practices are important to me.
But, I personally feel like packing out my campfire's ashes is a bit too much.
But, the potential risk of unintended wild fires must be weighed.
But, a well constructed fire ring of rocks and dirt can safely maintain a modest camp fire.
But, old fire rings can sometimes be an unsightly reminder of previous human presence.
But, metal fire pits provide an eloquent solution to the need for fire pits and have many benefits over a traditional ground fire.
But, metal fire pits are costsly and heavy.
But, the South Island of New Zealand stays in a Total Fire Ban for something like 9 months of the year.
Traveler III
”Damn it Jim, everyone knows RED chem lites are warmer than green”!
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No Patrick I'm not surprised at all. I think it was neglect by parents that scouting went down hill. Parental failure to monitor the activities was the immediate cause. I blame the promiscuous values of a progressive society that looks the other way and accepts lesser standards than did my parents. When parents let down their guard (values) this is what happens. In my day there was always at least one parent at all meetings and when camping the parents were as much a part of it as the kids. Our own mothers were our Den mothers in the cub scouts and our own fathers were the scout masters in the boy scouts. Mothers ran the household and most of the family activities. Fathers were the bread winners and disciplinary instruments. Our scout meeting place were in the Church with pastors overseeing the activities. In other words it was all well regulated. It was a day when Scouts were looked upon with pride and it was usually followed up with being in ROTC and combined with the Eagle scouts in a lot of cases. It was a day when families ate a family home cooked meal at home three times a day and we didn't know what fast food was or television, let alone children having a smart (?) phone, iPad, Kendal and such. It was a day when people - family's had conversations, rules and obedience of the rule. It wasn't the scouting community fault that let family values go to hell. No, I'm not surprised at all, I expected it.
Member III
Member III
I ran a nursery in Southern California we always added ashes to our planting soil for the benefits it gave the California soil we started with. So I am on the side it is much better to leave it scattered behind. The ash added to the soil after a fire is needed to help restore the natural balance of the soil and aids recovery.
harley97
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Advocate I
While I am not against portable fire pits, I think packing out the ashes is a bit much. Wood, fire and ashes are all natural, you are probably hurting the environment more by packing the ashes out, putting them in your trash can and sending them to the local dump. I think if you want to keep your impact minimal, then disperse the ashes and the rocks from the fire-pit when you are leaving camp. You can leave no trace and keep nature the way it was meant to be. Our ancestors routinely removed their fire pits to leave no trace. They didn't do it for environmental reasons, more so they couldn't be tracked, but the concept is the same.
Advocate I
We seldom have a wood campfire any more because they're either banned or highly restricted in many of the places we camp. Prohibitions againt the transportation of firewood is growing (A pollicy I agree with) and, here in the southeast, its common to see only certified kiln dried wood is allowed on public lands. At $5-6 for a bundle that lasts about as long as grandma's Sunday dinner biscuits, I can't afford it. A few years back, we picked up a Campfire-in-a-Can propane firepit. If its dark and you place it in a high walled pit and squint just right it sorta kinda looks llike a real fire. Seriously, I've really come to like the thing - it can be adjusted from a small glow to a heat producing roar, packs and transports easily, no smoke. no cleanup and just turn off the valve when its time to go to bed. At Zion on a cool evening, I had an overzealous neighbor report me to the rangers and the look on his face was priceless when the LEO stood around the fire chatting with us for a good ten minutes and then drove off with the CFIAC still blazing. I can get about twenty hours our of a twenty pound tank at medium flame height so its less costly than certifed wood. While I much prefer a real wood campfire and will build one when circumstances allow it, I've never packed the ashes out and typically just spread them over a wide area if we're boondocking.
On a side note, I don't think I've seen any mention of their beneficial medicinal affects of real wood campfires in this thread. Last night the missus and I sat around the USFS approved firepit on our patio, burned through a dozen or so handsplit pieces of oak and hickory, consumed a half fifth of sixteen year old single malt and shared some great reminiscing of forty plus years of marriage. Never once did COVID-19 or the stock maket come up, When I did my nightly blood pressure check, it was twenty points better on the lower number than normal.
Al
On a side note, I don't think I've seen any mention of their beneficial medicinal affects of real wood campfires in this thread. Last night the missus and I sat around the USFS approved firepit on our patio, burned through a dozen or so handsplit pieces of oak and hickory, consumed a half fifth of sixteen year old single malt and shared some great reminiscing of forty plus years of marriage. Never once did COVID-19 or the stock maket come up, When I did my nightly blood pressure check, it was twenty points better on the lower number than normal.
Al
Member III
Happy anniversary. Sounds like the perfect evening. Cheers!
