Using a fire pit is fairly simple. It doesn’t require any special skills, and a bit of common sense goes a long way toward keeping a safe and fun experience.
However, there is still plenty of room for honest mistakes, and they’re made every day.
We’re going to cover the 5 most common fire pit safety mistakes to help you avoid dangerous situations or ruining your fun.
1. Using Too Much Accelerant
This is one we all do at one point or another. You’re excited to get the fire going, you’re hungry, and you want to make sure you get the pit lit in one try. So, you douse all your wood with accelerant, strike a match, and hope for the best.
That is highly dangerous. In a flash, the whole pit will erupt in your face. You can catch nearby debris on fire, or you can hurt yourself and others.
Always make sure that you follow the instructions for any accelerant you use. If it doesn’t work the first time, you can always try again.
2. Placing Portable Pits on Uneven Ground
Convenience is one of the key benefits of portable fire pits. You can take them anywhere, place them on just about any type of ground, and get a roaring fire in minutes.
However, you have to place your portable fire pit correctly, or accidents can occur. This is especially true if you’re cooking on the pit.
If the pit is lopsided, food will roll, parts might slide apart, or the whole thing might topple over when your fuel shifts because it’s crumbling.
Take the time to find a nice level spot before you set up your fire pit. You’ll avoid one of the most common and frustrating mistakes without putting too much effort into it.
3. Using Inappropriate Fuel for the Pit
You get out to your camp spot, you gather some wood, and you’re ready to eat. Right when you go to light it, you realise you didn’t bring any good tinder or accelerant to get it lit properly.
Instead, you start looking at cardboard boxes, random bits of trash, and worse, flammable chemicals such as petrol, petroleum jelly, and similar things.
Those items let off chemical vapours that are bad for you to inhale, and they tend to leave a disgusting residue on your fire pit. Even cardboard, which seems very innocent to use as kindling, has a lot of chemicals that hold the wood pulp together.
Doing this can taint your food, cause you to inhale toxins, and force you to spend a lot more time cleaning your fire pit later.
If it’s at all possible, always try to use safe tinder and accelerants that are designed for cooking. Even if you’re not going to cook this time, you’ll still have to inhale whatever you’re burning. It’s best to make sure it’s not going to cause problems.
4. Not Checking the Pit for Problems Before Setting It Up
Depending on how your pit is made, it might have moving parts, require parts to be stacked, or have attachment points for accessories.
If you don’t check those parts of the pit before you start a fire, there’s nothing you can do about it after the fire is roaring. Trying to fix it is dangerous. You risk spilling fire into the surrounding area if the pit topples, you can burn yourself, etc.
This is even worse when you’re cooking at camp. You’re starving after being in the outdoors all day, you have limited food available, and then a malfunction topples it all in the fire.
A quick check of the fire pit’s components before use can save you from issues and help maintain your fire pit over time.
5. Ignoring Weather and Local Laws
This is a two-in-one mistake. Both can get you in big trouble, and they both stem from not doing your due diligence before you light up your fire pit.
First, don’t ignore the weather. Rain will obviously ruin your fun time, but wind can ruin it and make the fire extremely dangerous. It’ll stoke flames higher, and it will blow flames, embers, and burning debris all over the place.
Always check the weather to make sure you can safely use the fire pit, and do your best to prepare the surrounding area just in case a sudden gust pops up.
Then, you also have to pay attention to the laws. Some municipalities might not allow fire pits in certain areas, or if the weather has been extremely dry, there might be a ban on outdoor fires to prevent wildfires from happening.
Not adhering to local laws and regulations can result in serious fines, and if a catastrophe happens because of it, you can be held responsible.
Luckily, these fire pit safety mistakes are really easy to avoid.
If you’re going to be in your backyard, check the forecast before you light up the pit. If you’re out camping, make sure you have a weather radio to know what conditions are likely for the day.
You should know your local laws, but a quick Google search will tell you if there are any fire restrictions in your area, whether it’s a code problem or a weather issue.
Trust a Reliable Fire Pit and Minimise Your Chance of Mistakes
You can also make it easier to avoid these mistakes by choosing the right portable fire pit.
At Saturnia, we offer the Bush Mate, an innovative fire pit that combines top-quality engineering with rugged toughness to make it reliable, easy to use, and extremely long-lasting.
It is designed with 3mm thick weathering steel that protects itself from corrosion, and it’s built like a bunker. You don’t have to worry about it malfunctioning and falling apart in the middle of use; it’s incredibly stable, and it does an amazing job of containing your fire.
Both the Bush Mate Original and the Bush Mate XL are top-quality pits you can rely on.
Contact us to find the perfect fire pit for your backyard or camping adventures!
