The Case For Killing The Camp Fire

NorthCascades

Do you think a camp fire is an essential part of a night out?

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-case-for-killing-the-campfire?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Theoldguy1

NorthCascades wrote: »

Do you think a camp fire is an essential part of a night out?

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-case-for-killing-the-campfire?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Obviously there is the campfire turning into a forest destroying wildfire as an issue. Talking about pollution from campfires is a bit over the top. Much bigger fish to fry.

SuzySunshine99

I live in a fairly densely populated area where there is not much space between houses. On every cool evening, when you'd love to have the windows open, half the neighborhood lights up backyard bonfires. Our next-door neighbor has a fire pit literally right below our bedroom window.

My husband has respiratory issues, and even with all the windows closed, he has trouble breathing when wood smoke is in the air. I have appealed to our neighbors for help, but nothing must get in the way of their fun. Summer and fall evenings are very stressful as we wait for the smoke to start pouring in.

I get having a fire (responsibly) while camping or if you are on a large piece of land with no neighbors close by. But it has no place in urban/suburban environments. It's just pollution.

CSARdiver

Meh.

Other than forest fires the other reasons are really reaching. Not setting the forest on fire should be sufficient grounds.

SuzySunshine99

I’m also amazed when parents who would NEVER let someone smoke around their children have no problem plunking their kids in front of a campfire for a few hours.

I don’t think most people really know the dangers of wood smoke.

vanityy99

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

I live in a fairly densely populated area where there is not much space between houses. On every cool evening, when you'd love to have the windows open, half the neighborhood lights up backyard bonfires. Our next-door neighbor has a fire pit literally right below our bedroom window.

My husband has respiratory issues, and even with all the windows closed, he has trouble breathing when wood smoke is in the air. I have appealed to our neighbors for help, but nothing must get in the way of their fun. Summer and fall evenings are very stressful as we wait for the smoke to start pouring in.

I get having a fire (responsibly) while camping or if you are on a large piece of land with no neighbors close by. But it has no place in urban/suburban environments. It's just pollution.

The smoke still gets into the house with your windows closed??

SuzySunshine99

vanityy99 wrote: »

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

I live in a fairly densely populated area where there is not much space between houses. On every cool evening, when you'd love to have the windows open, half the neighborhood lights up backyard bonfires. Our next-door neighbor has a fire pit literally right below our bedroom window.

My husband has respiratory issues, and even with all the windows closed, he has trouble breathing when wood smoke is in the air. I have appealed to our neighbors for help, but nothing must get in the way of their fun. Summer and fall evenings are very stressful as we wait for the smoke to start pouring in.

I get having a fire (responsibly) while camping or if you are on a large piece of land with no neighbors close by. But it has no place in urban/suburban environments. It's just pollution.

The smoke still gets into the house with your windows closed??

Yes unfortunately. We have old windows, which I think are the culprit. I’ve been trying to save up to have them replaced.

k8eekins

NorthCascades wrote: »

Do you think a camp fire is an essential part of a night out?

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-case-for-killing-the-campfire?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Enjoying the fire in the backyard or the rooftop or by the beach, especially when out camping has been an essential and normal feature for me and most neighbours, not that I overdo it, strictly for the holidays and only on cold nights for our singalongs. Reading through the article from attached link, has forced me to review what is allowed on our developed and undeveloped camp sites, now looking up portable smokeless fire pits.

Thank you!

lorrpb

vanityy99 wrote: »

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

I live in a fairly densely populated area where there is not much space between houses. On every cool evening, when you'd love to have the windows open, half the neighborhood lights up backyard bonfires. Our next-door neighbor has a fire pit literally right below our bedroom window.

My husband has respiratory issues, and even with all the windows closed, he has trouble breathing when wood smoke is in the air. I have appealed to our neighbors for help, but nothing must get in the way of their fun. Summer and fall evenings are very stressful as we wait for the smoke to start pouring in.

I get having a fire (responsibly) while camping or if you are on a large piece of land with no neighbors close by. But it has no place in urban/suburban environments. It's just pollution.

The smoke still gets into the house with your windows closed??

Of course it can. Wildfire smoke from hundreds of miles away can permeate your house with the windows closed. It happens in our area almost every summer. Do it’s not surprising that a small fire nearby could do the same. We can smell the smoke whenever someone in the neighborhood has a fire or illegal fireworks.

whmscll

My house almost burned down in the Rim Fire. Aside from that, the pollution argument is real. Spend a night camping in Yosemite Valley or drive through my rural area on a permissible burn day smelling the stench from everyone’s debris burns and you will understand.

lalalacroix

This concept has been on my mind lately. It seems the past several years in Colorado we have had fire bans due to drought and we've had several fires due to campfire carelessness.

My family and myself both camp and backpack. While we don't normally make a fire when backpacking, we really do enjoy one when car camping.

We are very careful with our fires by following campfire safety protocols. However everyone is not. As an avid hiker, I see the destruction caused by fires on a regular basis.

So is a campfire essential - not really. Does it cause enjoyment to our family - absolutely. Will campfires eventually be permanently banned - very possibly thanks to neglectful people.

bennettinfinity

lalalacroix wrote: »

This concept has been on my mind lately. It seems the past several years in Colorado we have had fire bans due to drought and we've had several fires due to campfire carelessness.

My family and myself both camp and backpack. While we don't normally make a fire when backpacking, we really do enjoy one when car camping.

We are very careful with our fires by following campfire safety protocols. However everyone is not. As an avid hiker, I see the destruction caused by fires on a regular basis.

So is a campfire essential - not really. Does it cause enjoyment to our family - absolutely. Will campfires eventually be permanently banned - very possibly thanks to neglectful people.

Idiots... this is why we can't have good things.

stinkyfungus

Ummm you mess with my ability to occasionally make SMORES or grill a fresh caught fish over a Smokey wood fire mere yards from where I caught it... and where my bedroll is.

You ain’t gonna need to worry about bears...

NorthCascades

You can cook s'mores over your phone with the campfire app.

GuyanaGold21

I just returned from a wonderful 4-day camping trip (no Wi-Fi, cell service, etc.). The small evening campfire (in a metal fire ring, locally purchased fire wood, etc.) was the perfect way for us to relax after a day on the river. Thankfully, I've never lived where fire bans were common; and have found most campers to be very respectful of the resources they enjoy. Ironically, my asthma was much less problematic at camp than it is living daily in a Clean Air Act non-attainment area where wood fires are very uncommon!

NorthCascades

Somebody on the local hiking forum had this to say:


If you want to feel inside a room, with your attention narrowed, separated from your surroundings, visible and smellable for miles, build a fire.

If you want to be outdoors, with your attention outwards, part of your surroundings, unobtrusive, invisible, quiet, with night vision, don't.

Why would anybody want to ruin a beautiful night by building a fire? Keep warm with a good bag, a dog, or somebody sexy.


For me living in Seattle, the night sky is one of the great joys of camping.

CSARdiver

When I think of the alleged negative points over a campfire I would imagine most of these are based in poor setup and construction.

A well built campfire should generate minimal smoke and be built to generate light and heat - the construction and fueling will vary depending on necessity.

psychod787

BEER GOOD!!! FIRE BAD!!! lol

Fuzzipeg

I have every sympathy for the couple who have smoke getting into their home even with the window closed. I have problems with chemicals and the stink brought home from conservation days has had me gagging, even the laundry residue from next doors newly hung laundry made me ill, as well as many smells in between.

I first found something battery operated for our home which called itself "clean air", which worked well. I moved on to a mains powered uv air cleaner. I now even use a small unit, which fits in the cigar lighter in the car, (I have not other use for the socket, giggle) It makes a real difference. Some of us are more susceptible to health issues and need to do more to protect ourselves.

LyndaBSS

My husband and I used to treasure having fires in our patio chiminea. It always involved star gazing, meaningful conversation and lots of hand holding. Since I lost him a year ago, I haven't had another fire. I'm left with beautiful memories of them.

My next door neighbors have a small pit In their backyard. I love the smell of it.

I grew up in a camping family. We'd cook all our meals over the fire and were always responsible with it.

puffbrat

The wildfire risk is a real concern and it is both obnoxious and sad that campfires may eventually be banned entirely due to some people's negligence. While I don't disagree with the other points in a purely factual sense, I don't think they are sufficient reasons to stop using camp fires. Yes deadwood does provide habitat, but it is rarely critical habitat or habitat for threatened or endangered species. And those critters would almost certainly die in a wildfire that lights up that deadwood. Leaving deadwood in place is added fuel for wildfires. In the US, forest managers are realizing that the previous thought of always putting out wildfires as well as other management principles has led to our forests becoming massively and dangerously overgrown. Responsible harvesting of both deadwood and live trees can reduce fuel loading while still maintaining a healthy and more resilient ecosystem. I know pollution from fires is a problem with large wildfires, especially crown fires, and in populated areas in which wood fires are the primary source of heating. Having said that, other sources of heating come with their own environmental risks and damages. For camping people can just suck it up and deal with the cold, but how is that done? Usually with manufactured products such as clothes, blankets, and hand and foot warmers. Is that actually environmentally better?

For now I will continue to have my wood fires while camping, unless banned in that area during that time or if it is really windy, and just drown them in water.

Motorsheen

My idea of camping is a long weekend at a Four Seasons Resort & Spa.


Based on a recent night manger's reaction..... they don't necessarily appreciate camp fires in their guest suites.

neugebauer52

Has been essential for thousands of years...

SuzySunshine99

neugebauer52 wrote: »

Has been essential for thousands of years...

It was...until we developed other means of cooking our food and warming our homes that don't require a wood-burning fire. Electricity, natural gas, etc. In most first-world environments, fires are for entertainment purposes only, and therefore not essential anymore.

TheRoadDog

There's probably an App on your cell phone that you can stare at instead.

TravisJHunt

I always wonder if the person that writes these things is doing so on a solar powered type writer or using a phone that has a carbon footprint larger than any series of campfires (save those that start wildfires) would ever create. If we really want to stop wildfires, we'd be better off stopping smoking as statistically wise, at least here in Canada, more wildfires are started by discarded cigarette butts than any other means. So let's outlaw smoking, oh wait we probably can't because our government just legalized smoking marijuana. So as long as smoking is legal, I'll continue to enjoy my campfires in a responsible way thank you very much.

NorthCascades

You think somebody who doesn't like forest fires shouldn't use a computer? And that makes sense to you?

SuzySunshine99

NorthCascades wrote: »

You think somebody who doesn't like forest fires shouldn't use a computer? And that makes sense to you?

I think where it’s getting confusing is that there are two main arguments against the campfires being debated here. One is forest fire prevention and another is air quality.

I think the above poster was equating the air quality argument with using electronic devices...not the forest fire argument.

cwolfman13

I love camping and I love a good campfire. We primarily camp in forest service campgrounds that are equipped with forest service fire rings. We've had a good wet winter and spring and early summer so as of right now there are no restrictions in place. We have camped with restrictions in place with no fire, and that's fine too...but if I am allowed to have a campfire, I do.

It's usually something we get going in the early evening before dinner and then the kids can roast their marshmallows over the fire afterwards. We typically let it start to die once it gets dark and after the kids are in bed so we can just sit and enjoy the night sky and the stars. I like having a small morning fire as well.

CSARdiver

NorthCascades wrote: »

You think somebody who doesn't like forest fires shouldn't use a computer? And that makes sense to you?

Makes sense to me.

Pareto in a practical application.

Concern over campfire and not cigarettes or the power plant shows a concern of optics over reality.

TravisJHunt

NorthCascades wrote: »

You think somebody who doesn't like forest fires shouldn't use a computer? And that makes sense to you?

Wow, that's jumping to a conclusion. No what I don't like are people who claim to be so concerned with the environment that they pen posts on the devastating effects of a really fun past time, calling out those who do it and suggesting we should end the practice, meanwhile they themselves are really hypocritical in that their environment destructing footprint is often as bad or worse, but they don't advocate for stopping all of the things they love, they instead focus on things other people do. Willie Nelson for example claims to be a climate change and environment guru, yet at a show in Alberta, he left multiple diesel buses running for an entire day just so that he could keep them climate controlled for his comfort. David Suzuki who advocates for the environment, yet jet sets around the world in private jets seems a bit hypocritical to me. Etc........

I'm totally against forest fires, but most up here in Canada any ways aren't caused by some irresponsible camper having a fire in the evening. They are caused by someone being negligent with other products, such as cigarettes. Thus my second point was that if you're going to ban something, let's start by banning the thing that actually causes these, and not just the first thing that pops into the authors mind.