fire safety tips

Make sure you have these fire-safety tips in mind before setting anything aflame this weekend.

Keep your distance: Accidents happen when the flames are too close.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Between the hot, dry conditions of late summer, the high winds that can kick up this time of year, and all the cooking and grilling going on, there are lots of opportunities for innocent holiday activities to turn into dangerous fires that could force you to spend your long weekend in the local burn unit. And as the wildfires in California remind us, being responsible about your weekend activities protects more than just your house; it will keep your neighbors out of harm’s way, too.

Whether you're staying at home to host a weekend barbecue or heading out for one last chance to commune with nature, here are three ways to prevent fires and burns this Labor Day weekend.

#1: Fires at the campsite.
Camping is a great way to spend some quality family time together, as long as that family time is spent safely at your campsite and not at a hospital burn unit. Officials at the Oklahoma State Department of Health have found in their research that 90 percent of campfire-related injuries occur when people come into direct contact with the flame, with the remainder caused by hot coals.

Stay safe fireside by:

• Wearing close-fitting clothing. Avoid scarves or long skirts if the weather cools down after dark.

• Never use flammable liquids or lighter fluid to start a fire or to keep it going. Use newspaper or dry wood instead.

• Keep a bucket of water close by at all times.

• Place your campfire at least three feet away from anything else, especially dry vegetation.

• Always, always put out a campfire at least a half hour before you go to sleep or leave the area. When extinguishing a burning fire, stir the wood and ash with a stick first to extinguish the flames as much as possible. Sprinkle water over the wood and coals, and stir it with the stick. Keep doing this until you don't hear any hissing or see any steam.

• Lay off the booze. In 2005, doctors from the University of Washington reviewed six years’ worth of burn patients' medical records found that 81 percent of adults with contact burns from campfires were intoxicated at the time.