It is important to know how to turn off a wood burning fire pit for a number of reasons, including safety and preventing potential hazards. Extinguishing fire pit involves more than just waiting until the flames burn out. A definite process is required to ensure that no embers or ashes remain hot. This guide will cover the step-by-step process of how to safely extinguish a wood-burning fire pit, the tools you will need, common mistakes to avoid, and additional safety tips to ensure the fire pit is completely extinguished.
Why Proper Extinguishing is Crucial:
It is imperative to extinguish a wood-burning fire pit properly for a few reasons. The reasons include safety, which helps to prevent a fire from flaring up later and potentially causing a fire in/around your property. An incompletely extinguished fire can restart easily due to human error or external factors such as wind. This can be a significant risk to property or safety of people. Additionally, effective extinguishing helps minimize environmental impact by reducing the risk of wildfires, especially in dry or wooded areas.
Essential Tools and Materials:
To extinguish a wood-burning fire pit correctly, some tools and supplies are needed. In case of any unforeseen flare-ups, you should always have an apparatus ready with an extinguishing agent to do so, e.g., fire extinguisher. Also, close by should be a reliable water source, like a bucket or hose because you will need to thoroughly cool down the fire and hot embers. A shovel also is beneficial to distribute the ashes and embers to insure they receive water and cool more adequately. Moreover, the use of a cover for the fire pit is a good move that can keep the pit clean and safe when not in use. With these tools in hand, you have what you need to safely and effectively put out a fire with your fire pit.
How to Put Out a Wood Burning Fire Pit: (Step-bt-step guide)
Step 1: Let the Fire Burn Down
Allowing the fire to burn down is crucial in the course of putting out a wood burning fire pit. By letting the flames die-down on their own, you reduce the amount of hot material (e.g., logs) that you are dealing with. As a result of the burning of the logs, amount of the material that is hot is significantly reduced, making any ash or embers easier to manage, as you will see less of the intense flame. The amount of heat produced from burning logs will also decrease significantly, which makes putting out the fire a safer and more effective process.
Once the flames have nearly gone out, it is important to not add more wood or more fuel. This will help ensure the fire remains more stable and there are no more sudden flare-ups. Instead, it is better to focus on getting the fire to burn out completely, so that all you are left with is embers and ash.
Step 2: Spread the Ashes and Embers
Spread out the ashes and embers once the flame has subsided using a shovel. By spreading the hot embers, you can add more air to help them cool more quickly. It is crucial that the ashes and embers are spread out evenly over the fire pit. This will ensure that there are not hot spots that stay concentrated and that the ashes and embers cool more uniformly.
Check the entire fire pit area to confirm that no embers are left bunched together.. When you properly spread out the ashes and embers, the more likely you will find the remaining hot spots. By ensuring that the ashes and embers are evenly dispersed, you can better cool each ember and help prevent the possibility of re-ignition.
Step 3: Douse with Water
You should start the process of extinguishing the ashes and embers by applying water across the spread-out embers and ashes. You should add water evenly and gradually over the entire area to ensure that it is completely wet. Be cautious of steam and hissing, which indicate the water is interacting with hot coals. Pouring water slowly can help manage the reaction and reduces the risks of steam burns.
Continue to add water until you visually can determine the ashes and embers are completely wet. You need to make sure every corner of the fire pit is wet to prevent any hot spots from remaining.
Step 4: Stir and Douse Again
After you have poured on the water, use a shovel or rake to stir the wet ashes and embers. This mixing is important because it helps the water soak through all of the ashes, and it helps to ensure that all of the embers of the fire are exposed to the cooling effect. Stirring also helps to break up any clumps that the ashes might make, making cooling easier and more uniform.
Add more water (as needed) and continue stirring until you are satisfied that all of the embers are really put out. Doing this extra round of stirring and pouring will help you to know that you are using the best method to completely extinguish a fire with water.
Common mistakes to avoid when putting out fire pit:
1. Not Allowing the Fire to Burn Down Completely:
Often people make the mistake of failing to completely burn down the fire before extinguishing it. Hurrying to put out a fire while it is still burning can lead to steam eruptions that result in danger and incomplete cooling of the embers. Make sure your fire has been reduced to a bed of ash and embers before beginning the extinguishing process. This will make the extinguishing process much safer and more successful. Because the embers are not as intense, it will be more manageable.
2. Skipping the Step of Spreading Ashes and Embers:
No spreading out ashes and embers even before applying water is another common mistake. If you don’t spread out your ashes and embers evenly, you will potentially leave hot spots that could reignite. Use a shovel to slowly spread out ashes and embers throughout the fire pit to ensure they are exposed to the water. This will ensure that every possible hot spot is cooled down and help to eliminate any residual heat.
3. Using Insufficient Water or Alternative Methods Ineffectively:
Using too little water or relying on ineffective methods like sand or dirt without proper coverage can lead to incomplete extinguishing. To make sure the fire is safely extinguished, you will need to use enough water to totally wet all areas with ashes and embers. If you use sand or soil, spill on all areas and mix well. If areas are missed, warm “hot spots” could develop and cause the fire to start back up. Be as thorough as possible no matter what methods or supplies you use for extinguishing your fire!
How to Put Out a Fire Pit Quickly:
When you are in the midst of a fire pit emergency, it is important to remain calm and act quickly. To put out a fire pit quickly, start by allowing the fire to burn down as much as possible. This process reduces the intensity of the remaining embers and makes them easier to manage. As the flames lessen in intensity, grab a shovel to spread the embers and ashes more evenly. By spreading out the embers and ashes, you increase the surface area exposed to the air which helps them to cool faster, and by spreading the hot material out it allows more efficient heat dissipation, aiding in quick extinguishing.
If you have a water source or water nearby, you can pour the water over the spread out embers and ashes to encourage a faster cooling process. Take care to pour the water slowly and evenly to avoid a steam burn and ensure proper saturation. After you apply the water, stir the material with a shovel or poker to make sure all the embers are standing out into the water. If you need to act quickly, having a fire extinguisher or a fire blanket nearby will help you manage sudden flare-ups and ensure your safety.
How to Put Out a Fire Pit Without Water:
If water isn’t an option, you can extinguish a fire pit with sand, dirt, or fire suppressant powders. When using sand or dirt, spread the material generously over the embers and ash. Using sand or dirt essentially smothers the fire, and it cut the fire’s oxygen supply, which is required to put an end to the fire. Ensure the ashes and visible embers are all completely covered. By using a shovel and mixing the sand or dirt with the ashes, you can fully extinguish the fire.
It’s also effective if you use a fire suppressant powder. Follow the instructions provided on the fire suppressant powder to extinguish the fire properly. Once you’ve applied the powder, ensure you mix the powder thoroughly with the embers using your shovel to mix the ashes, ensuring to cover all hot spots with ash. Regardless of which method you use, always ensure there is no heat left by feeling the ashes or using a heat detection tool to ensure there are no remaining live embers.
How to Put Out a Fire in a Metal Fire Pit:
Putting out a fire in a metal fire pit can be challenging because metal retains heat more than other fire pit materials. The first step in extinguishing a fire in a metal fire pit is allowing the fire to burn down and using a shovel to spread the ashes and embers. Metal fire pits can retain heat longer than other materials, so spreading the ashes helps in cooling them more effectively. To cool the fire pit down faster, distribute the ashes and embers more evenly across the pit. Next, you should put water all over the ashes and embers so that it can help extinguish them. It is necessary to pour a sufficient amount of water to ensure that the ashes are fully saturated, since the water will quickly evaporate due to the metal being hot.
Once you have poured water on the ashes and embers once, mix the ashes so that the water can reach and extinguish all the embers. Keep monitoring the pit and apply water as needed until you are sure the ashes and embers are no longer warm, because the pit retains heat and may take a lot of water. You should never leave the fire pit area until you are sure the fire is completely out, or has burned itself out, to prevent any possible re-ignition from occurring.
Summary:
In conclusion, properly extinguishing a wood fire pit is critical to prevent fire and hazards. By avoiding common mistakes such as not allowing the fire to burn down completely, applying water too quickly, and failing to thoroughly spread and stir the ashes, you can ensure a more effective and safer extinguishing process. Always try to pour enough water and ensure the remnants of the fire pit are cold before leaving. Always take the responsibility of extinguishing your fire pit seriously.
