Practical fire safety guidance for Scouts and outdoor groups, covering safe fire lighting, campfires, cooking fires, equipment, supervision and emergency procedures.
Having a fire outdoors can be one of the most enjoyable parts of camping, but the job isn’t finished when you stop cooking or decide you’re ready to leave. A fire that looks like it has gone out can still contain hot embers capable of starting another fire. Learning how to leave a fire site…
Fire can be one of the most enjoyable parts of being outdoors. Sitting around a campfire, cooking outside or learning how to light a fire are all useful experiences, but fire needs to be treated with respect from the very beginning. Children don’t need to be frightened of fire, or told to keep away, but…
Fire lighting is a classic outdoor skill, but it should never be treated as simply a race to get a flame. A well-planned fire lighting activity can teach Scouts about preparation, responsibility, teamwork, fire safety and how to make sensible decisions outdoors. For younger or less experienced groups, the activity can focus on recognising equipment,…
Activity Overview Difficulty: BeginnerTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor cooking areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Stove safety, fuel handling, camp cooking, fire safety, risk awareness Camp stoves provide a controlled way to cook outdoors, but they still involve flames, hot surfaces and potentially hazardous fuels. Safe stove use starts before the stove is lit and includes…
Activity Overview Difficulty: BeginnerTime: 30–60 minutesLocation: Suitable campfire or outdoor cooking areaBest for: Cubs, Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Camp cooking, fire safety, food hygiene, heat control, teamwork Campfire roasting is a simple outdoor cooking method where food is held over the heat of a campfire using a suitable skewer, roasting fork or other approved equipment. It…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Scout campsites and suitable outdoor areasBest for: Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and experienced Cubs under close supervisionSkills: Fire lighting, solar energy, tinder preparation, observation, patience and fire safety A magnifying glass can concentrate sunlight onto a small area of tinder, increasing its temperature until it begins to smoulder and…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Scout campsites and suitable outdoor fire areasBest for: Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and experienced Cubs under close supervisionSkills: Fire lighting, flint-and-steel technique, tinder preparation, fire safety and campcraft Flint-and-steel fire lighting works by striking hardened steel against a suitable piece of flint to create small sparks. Unlike a ferrocerium…
Activity Overview Difficulty: Easy–ModerateTime: 15–20 minutesLocation: Scout campsites and suitable outdoor activity areasBest for: Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and adult leadersSkills: Fire safety, ferrocerium rod handling, spark control, situational awareness and campcraft A ferrocerium rod is generally straightforward to use, but it produces very hot sparks capable of igniting dry materials. The main safety…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 20–30 minutesLocation: Scout campsites and suitable outdoor fire areasBest for: Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and adult leadersSkills: Fire lighting, ferrocerium rod use, tinder preparation, fire safety and campcraft A ferrocerium rod, often called a ferro rod or fire steel, produces hot sparks when a suitable striker is drawn firmly across…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 20–30 minutesLocation: Scout campsites and suitable outdoor fire areasBest for: Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and adult leadersSkills: Fire lighting, fire safety, preparation, observation and campcraft Lighting a fire with matches is a basic campcraft skill, but the preparation of the fire is more important than the match itself. Start with…
