How to Put Out a Campfire

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Reviewed by Ky Furneaux

Last Updated: March 10, 2025 References

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Extinguishing a Campfire With Water

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Smothering a Fire with Dirt or Sand

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Expert Q&A

Sitting around a fire is one of the highlights of going camping. However, leaving your campsite before fully extinguishing the fire can start forest fires or burn another camper. For these reasons, it's important that you fully extinguish a fire when you're done with it. Luckily, you can safely extinguish your campfire with water, sand, or dirt.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Extinguishing a Campfire With Water

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Fill a bucket with water and pour it on top of the campfire. Don't stand directly above or downhill from the fire to avoid inhaling smoke or hot steam.^{[1]
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Research source} Continue pouring water over the fire until all the hissing from the hot embers stops.^{[2]
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Use a stick or shovel to mix up the ashes and embers into the soil. As you stir the remnants of the fire, you may uncover more red embers or burning wood which must be extinguished before you leave.^{[3]
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Britt Edelen
Outdoor Educator

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Use your stick or shovel to scrape off any partially burnt sticks or logs to ensure that they are fully extinguished. This may reveal more burning embers under the surface of the wood.^{[4]
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After you've stirred the fire thoroughly, you'll want to add more water to it to extinguish any remaining embers that may have come off burning pieces of wood.
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Feel the logs and coals to make sure they aren't hot. Put your palms up next to logs and coals. If you don't feel any heat radiating off of them, you can touch them with your hands.
- Any warm or hot pieces of your fire must be doused down with more water.
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Repeat the steps until the fire is cool to the touch. Continue dousing the area and mixing the soot and embers to ensure that you've put out the fire fully. The fire is fully extinguished when it's completely cool to the touch.
- The rocks surrounding the fire should be cool to the touch when the fire is fully extinguished.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Smothering a Fire with Dirt or Sand

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Plan on leaving the campsite when your fire completely dies down. Do not add logs to your fire if you know you are leaving soon so that the fire can stop burning. If you need to extinguish the fire quickly, this is not an ideal method. Instead, use water to put out your fire.
Use a shovel or a long stick to poke the embers left over in the fire. Uncover large unburnt logs or sticks to make sure that there are no embers remaining under the ashes.
You just want enough dirt or sand to smother the embers and to extinguish the fire fully. Do not cover or bury the fire, as this could create a fire under the surface of the dirt that could reignite later and will make the sand or dirt incredibly hot.
Put your hand a couple of inches away from the coals in the fire to make sure that it's cooled off. If it still feels warm, repeat the steps until the ashes are completely cooled.^{[5]
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Does water put out fire?

Britt Edelen
BA in English Literature, Brown University
Britt Edelen comes to wikiHow after graduating in 2019 from Brown University, where he studied English and German literature and philosophy. While at Brown he contributed frequently to campus publications and worked in the university’s Writing Center. More recently, he has had several articles published in various journals devoted to literary criticism. During his time at wikiHow, Britt supervised and collaborated with writers and editors to continue producing high-quality content and promote wikiHow’s mission of enabling everyone to learn anything.

Britt Edelen

BA in English Literature, Brown University

Expert Answer

Yes, but it's best to put the campfire out in sections, and take your time between sections since there will be a lot of smoke.

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How do I put out a fire in a non-developed community?

Stephanie Thomas

Community Answer

take the oxygen away from the flame because fire needs oxygen. Either use a blanket or a tarp to smother the flame. The best method, in my opinion, is to kick or shovel dirt onto the fire.

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How do I turn fire off without any tools like water?

Community Answer

You can't turn it off, but you can wait for it to die down (be sure to watch it!) and then stomp on the ashes. You could also smother it with a fireproof blanket if you have one on hand. Don't pour other liquids besides water on it, you never know what could cause it to explode or grow.

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