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Building fires and cooking over them is one of the most exciting parts of any outing. In this episode, we’ll be covering safety practices for fires, fire building basics, and suggested kaper roles for a cookout.

Remember, your council may require specialized training before taking your girls camping or doing fire building activities. Contact your council or check their Safety Activity Checkpoints to be sure you are following their guidelines.

Safety Practices

As they say, safety first!  It’s important to go over the safety rules for the campfire area prior to building the fire.

• Have a water bucket.
• Build the fire in the designated area that has been cleared of debris.
• Check the weather and local fire danger ratings.
• Remove loose clothing and tie back long hair.
• Don’t reach, walk, or jump over the fire.
• Use potholders when needed.
• Do not put garbage into the fire.
• Never leave the fire unattended. – While you might have girls responsible for tending the fire, an adult should always be present.
• Lightly sprinkle water from your hands until the fire is completely out.

Prepare for Emergencies

• Review stop, drop and roll.
• Let girls know, if they get injured, like a burn, to let an adult know right away.

Fire Building Basics

There are many types of fires, but these are the most popular.

• A frame, the logs of the fire are shaped like an A, used for cooking
• Log cabin or box fire, where logs are placed in a square, used for cooking
• Teepee fires, where logs are propped up in tent shape, best for light

Types of Wood

Tinder is tiny. This is the stuff we light. Wood shavings, cat tail fluff, and birch bark make excellent tinder. If you are collecting twigs, they should be about as long as your fingers and narrower than your pinky finger.

Kindling is the middle sized sticks. It is used to feed the fire until the larger logs catch. They shouldn’t be longer than your forearm and the diameter ranges between your fingers and your wrist.

Fuel is your logs, large pieces of wood, as thick as your wrist or larger. This is what keeps your fire going.

When you ask girls to collect these difference supplies, follow this rule, dead, down, and dry. The branch should be dead, not connected to a standing tree or bush, and ideally dry.

Suggested Cookout Kapers

If you have a big troop and a big campout coming up, you might want to consider kapers, or chores, specifically for cookouts. Each meal, you can rotate them.

Firebuilders

• Clear the fire circle and safety circle.
• Fill buckets of water.
• Collect tinder, kindling, and fuel.
• Build and tend the fire.
• Put out the fire.

Cooks

• Prepare the food.
• Set up assembly line if girls are making their own meal.
• Set up serving line.
• Pack up food after the meal.

Hostesses

• Set up the eating area. They might put out a table cloth or make natural centerpieces.
• Set up hand-washing station.
• Select and lead a grace.

Clean up

• Set up a garbage can.
• Set up the dish-washing station.
• Wipe tables.
• Wash communal dishes. Each girl washes her own plate, but the cleaning crew washes pots, pans, and serving utensils.
• Take trash to a dumpster or designated area.