SAFETY TIPS - FIRES AND BARBECUES
On the site
On well-organised sites, pitches will probably be marked out or campers advised on maintaining a safe distance between tents but pitching can be something of a free-for-all. If you’re told to ‘squeeze in between those tents’ maybe you should look for another site. Read and follow the site’s fire regulations and know where fire-fighting equipment and alarm are located, plus where to find the nearest phone if mobile signals are dodgy.
In the tent
• Don’t use naked flames, including candles, in or near your tent.
• Smoking in a tent is a fire risk.
• Keep matches and lighters away from children.
• Gas cylinders and flammable liquids should be kept outside the tent and away from children.
• Keep a bucket of water and a fire blanket handy; an extinguisher is worth its weight in gold. Know how to use them.
• Don’t use cooking appliances anywhere near walls and roof or where they can be bumped into and knocked over.
• Keep your cooking area clear of flammable material, like cooking oil.
Barbecues
• Check that your barbecue is in good working order.
• Make sure your barbecue site is on level ground and that the barbecue is stable.
• Keep water handy to damp down flames and coals.
• Don’t overload your barbecue with lighter fluid or charcoal.
• Never spray lighting fuel on warm coals – it will flash back.
• Make sure children and pets stay away from the barbecue.
• Don’t leave barbecues unattended.
• Make sure the barbecue is cool before packing away or disposing of the coals.
• NEVER bring a barbecue into the tent to use for cooking or heating. It is a fire hazard and anything with a naked flame creates carbon monoxide – death by poisoning is a real hazard.
Finally:
• Make sure you know how to put out a clothing fire – if your clothes catch file: STOP still – don’t run – and cover your face with your hands; DROP down to the ground; ROLL your body over and over to put out the flames.
