Campfire Safety
Firefighters from the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) and Doctors from the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) Burns Unit have joined forces to develop a statewide safety campaign that aims to see a reduction in the number of children admitted to hospital with campfire-related burns.
Of the 250 children seen by the RCH Burns Unit last year, 33 had been burnt by campfires, with most receiving painful burn-injuries to their hands and feet, areas which often result in long term disability and scarring.
A majority were burnt the morning after a fire, and as a result of contact with hot ashes and embers rather than with active fire.
As little as one second of body contact with material heated to a temperature of 70 degrees will inflict a full thickness (3rd degree) burn.
Tests conducted by firefighters and RCH Doctors found that campfires extinguished with sand or dirt retain a lot of heat and can camouflage still-hot coals, whereas campfires extinguished with water are cooled to a safe level after only 10 minutes.
Any campfire left unattended for any period of time, particularly overnight, should be extinguished by using a bucket of water - not sand or dirt.
The safety pamphlets and posters produced as part of this campaign are available from camping stores and fire stations across the state, and will be distributed by National Parks and Wildlife Service and Redlands Tourism with camping permits.
Firefighters would like to thank Nissan Motor Company, Printrak and Oz Trail for their generous support of this safety campaign.
Campfire Safety Presentation
The 20-slide Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) campfire safety presentation has been designed for community groups and educators to use in teaching members and students about campfire safety.
Click here to download the Powerpoint version of the QFRS campfire safety presentation (2.35 MB).
Click here to download the PDF version of the QFRS campfire safety presentation (2.95 MB). The free Adobe Reader is required to view this document. Click here to install Adobe Reader.
Please note - these are large files and may take some time to download. It is recommended you right-click on the link (Apple users click-and-hold) and choose "Save Target As..." to save the file to your computer.
Last updated 03 February 2005
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