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    working in partnership to make Dorset safer

Staying fire safe outdoors

Dorset is a popular and attractive location for campers, arriving with tents or caravans. Dorset Fire and Rescue is committed to promoting fire safety and ensuring visitors to the county have and safe and enjoyable time.
 
In order to do this, we want to remind you about the simple safety precautions you can take to make yourself safer whilst camping. Please remember:
     
  • Take time to consider the distance between your tent or caravan and your neighbour’s. Allow a six metre gap between guidelines to allow people to move quickly in between tents.
  • Allow spacing between parked cars and caravans/tents.  
  • Never use petrol or paraffin to light a solid fuel stove.  
  • Keep all gas cylinders outside, out of direct sunlight and preferable in a secure locker. Make sure you check the connection between the cylinder and the appliance for any leaks or sign of damage. 
 
If you are staying in a caravan, please ensure you fit a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide detector. Remember your smoke alarm must work to save your life. Make sure you check the battery once a week, dust it every six months, change the battery every twelve months (unless it’s a ten year alarm) and change your alarm every ten years.

Avoid the use of candle in a caravan. A candle flame may be small but more than five fires a day are started by candles so handle with care. When cooking never leave it unattended. Anything can take our attention away but it is far safer to turn the cooking off than leave it, a fire will only take seconds to start and by the time you return your entire caravan could be on fire. There are around 1,400 fires in caravans every year in the UK, please make sure your summer is not ruined by becoming a statistic.A fire can destroy a tent in less than 60 seconds. If you are staying in a tent, some of the same rules apply.

  • Don’t use camping stove within a small tent,
  • Cook a reasonable distance away from tents,
  • Please don’t smoke inside the tent, and,
  • Ensure people know to cut themselves out if trapped in a tent.

If you are cooking outdoors, there are other risks which you need to be aware of. Such as, when using a gas barbecue with a gas bottle, always check your gas connections with a leak detecting solution after hooking up a new bottle. Pay attention to the proximity of flammable materials to your barbecue. We advise you do not cook too closely to combustibles.

When using charcoal, always check to see that there is an ash catcher in place before lighting your barbecue. Hot embers have dropped down underneath a barbecue and start a fire on the shelf or other combustible surface below. Do not attempt to barbecue or use an open fire when it is windy. Hot embers blown from a cooking fire can start a heath, woodland or house fire. Please make sure that the barbecue is completely out before you leave it unattended. Have a bucket of sand or water to hand, just in case!

If you are unfortunate enough to experience a fire, GET OUT, STAY OUT and CALL THE FIRE SERVICE OUT!

For more information, download the Camping, Glamping and Caravanning safety leaflet from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.