Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Camping is a great way to spend time outdoors [Crackling Flames from a Campfire] and building a campfire adds a little ‘spark’ to the experience. But before you light a match, you need a proper site and materials.

When you want to build a fire you certainly have to find a location to build it. You have to gather the material and make sure that it’s not wet. You want the ground or the level where you’re going to build the fire to be dry. You clear the leaves away and if possible, gather some rocks to make a fire ring that will contain that fire.

Terry Erwin is Hunter Education Coordinator, and says there’s a certain order to building a good campfire.

Start with a bird’s nest of material so if you put your spark in there, gather some cedar bowls or cedar bark and when you spark it, you can blow on the spark and that will enhance the fire. Start with little sticks and graduate to bigger sticks until you add twigs, grass and bark shavings and things like that on the fire to get it started. Then you can add the larger sticks and get it going at that point.

Extinguish your campfire by drenching it with water, repeating this step until all embers are dead. If an ample supply of water is not available, cover the embers with a thick layer of soil.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Alanna Jones… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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