After a long night spent with your friends around the fire pit it’s normal to feel tired and want to go inside and sleep. But unfortunately you can’t do that yet. You still have to extinguish the fire pit. Or can you just leave it burning overnight?
You can not leave a fire pit burning overnight. An unsupervised fire pit is a potential fire hazard so it’s illegal. There is also a very good chance that sparks will fly from the fire pit and set something on fire.
So there is no way to go around it, under no circumstance you can’t leave a fire pit burning overnight, that’s what the law says. And there are a lot of good reasons why the law is so strict. So let’s take a look at what can happen if you leave the fire pit burning overnight and how to properly put out the fire (you would be surprised how easy it’s to do this wrong).
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What Can Happen if You Leave a Fire Pit Burning Overnight
Since leaving a fire pit burning overnight is illegal the first bad thing that you can expect is a fine. But a simple fine is the least wariesome problem, there are much worse things.
The biggest and scariest thing that can happen is a fire. Recent reports have shown that in the last decade there number of houses that caught fire has increased 10 times, and nearly 50 percent of those fires were caused by fire pits left unsupervised (source).
But there are a lot of things that can catch on fire in a backyard, not only the house. Actually houses themselves are not that prone to catching fire, but trees, dry leaves, dry grass, can easily catch fire and then spread it all over your backyard.
One thing to keep in mind is that a dry leaf doesn’t need a big flame to catch fire, in most cases a small spark is enough to ignite it. And in a lot of cases even if you put out the fire before going inside, there is a very high chance that there is enough heat left in the fire pit to make such a spark. So let’s see how to properly put out a fire pit.
How to Extinguish a Fire Pit
In most cases people simply let the flames die down on their own and consider that the fire is down. Or they simply pour a bucket of water over and think that that is enough, but that’s not the case.
In both of those situations only the surface fire is put out, but underneath it there is a lot of heath that will soon reignite the whole thing.
To properly put out a fire pit you should follow those steps:
- Wait for the fire to die down. If you don’t have time for this you should use a shovel or a fire poker to break the remaining wood as much as possible.
- Fill a bucket with water and pour it all over the remains of the fire
- Use a shovel or a fire poker to stir the ashes, and try to bring as many as possible to the surface.
- Fill the bucket with water again and pour it over the hot ashes.
- Use a metal lid and cover the fire pit, this way the wind won’t reignite it in case there are still some hot embers left.
As you can see putting a fire out completely requires you do a little more than pouring a bucket of water over it. And this is a common thing with fire pits, at first sight everything seems extremely simple, you just put some wood inside of it and light it up, but there are a lot of things to take into consideration, especially in regards to safety.
So here are some general fire pit safety tips that will definitely come in handy:
- An adult should always be present and attend the fire until it is completely extinguished.
- Keep children and pets a safe distance away.
- If the fire gets out of control, call the fire local department right away.
- Put the fire out if the wind picks up or the weather changes.
- Keep fire extinguishing materials handy. Some good options are a fire extinguisher, or a garden hose. And test the water source before lighting the fire.
- Keep any flammable and explosive materials away from the fire.
- Be careful of the wind power and direction.
- Keep a safe distance from the fire pit.
- Don’t add too much wood to the fire at once, it can fall from the pit.
- Don’t leave the fire pit unsupervised.
- When you are done extinguish the fire.
And here are two lists of the things that you can and can’t burn inside a fire pit, according to the law.
Things you are allowed to burn:
- Brush
- Pine needles
- Grass
- Clean wood
- Cane Grass
- Driftwood
- Forestry Debris (but not from commercial or industrial land clearing)
- Agricultural materials including fruit tree and bush prunings, raspberry stalks
Things you are not allowed to burn:
- Leaves
- Brush, trees, driftwood from commercial or industrial land clearing
- Tires
- Construction materials or demolition debris
- Household trash
- Plastics
- Shingles
- Foam
- Wire
- Metal
- Electronics
- Vinyl products
- Rubber products
- Oil-based products
- Painted, stained or treated wood
Just like in the case of leaving a fire pit burning overnight, you will end up with a fine if you burn those things. But again the fine should be the least of your worries, since most of the things that you are not allowed to burn will create dangerous smoke that can get you sick.
Final Thoughts
In the end of the article I will leave you with some of the most common questions and problems that people are faced with when owning a fire pit. Hopefully this will help you avoid some of the biggest mistakes people make when owning a fire pit, and save you some money.
Common Questions
How do I prevent rust from appearing on my fire pit? In order to prevent rust you can:
- Move the fire pit in a dry room, or any place with a roof should prevent most rust from appearing.
- Cover your fire pit using a metal or wooden lid, or a synthetic cover. But make sure that the fire pit has cooled off before you cover it.
- Removing the ash from the fire pit is also very important, as ash absorbs a lot of humidity from the air.
- The most important thing that you can do is to regularly clean and inspect the fire pit.
How do I remove rust from a fire pit? To remove rust from a fire pit you can use:
- Vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Soft drinks
- Baking soda
- Potatoes
- A mix of them
- Commercial products like: WD-40 and CLR
After you remove the rust you should get some Sandpaper, Spray Sealant, Spray Paint. After that you should remove all the paint using a coarse grit sandpaper, then use a finer sandpaper and remove all scratches. Apply a thin coat of sealant, after it dries apply the pain, and then another coat of sealant. Make sure that you try to make the coatings as even as possible, otherwise the paint will come off.
How long do fire pits last? A fire pit can last anywhere from one year to a lifetime. It all depends on how well you maintain it.
In the case of wood burning fire one of the most important things that matter is what you are burning. Things like magazines contain chemicals that can damage the fire pit. Wood that has been painted or treated in any way will also damage the fire pit. So only burning firewood will increase the lifespan of your firepit.
Removing the ashes is also very important. Ashes absorb humidity from the air, so letting them sit in the fire pit for long periods of time is like having your fire pit filled with water.
In the case of gas fire pits it’s extremely important to dust them off. Dust doesn’t only leave an unpleasant smell but over time it can damage the interior of the fire pit.
For both types of fire pits it is also extremely important how you store them, leaving them uncovered year round, will drastically reduce their lifespan.
What is the best wood for a fire pit? The best wood for a fire pit is hardwood, which one you choose is up to you. If you choose one from this list you shouldn’t go wrong:
- Oak
- Ash
- Mapl
- Walnut
- Mahogany
- Hickory
- Beech
Just make sure that the wood you choose is seasoned and not green, if you get green wood you will have to leave it to season for at least 6 months.
While softwood is not a great choice for a fire pit, it can be a great addition as you can use it to light the fire or add pleasant smell.
And remember to stay away from driftwood, construction wood, wood with things grown on it and vines.
How can I successfully start a fire pit every time? Every successful fire is built using 3 layers:
- Tinder – burns quickly and ignites the kindling
- Kindling – the middle layer that will will get ignited by the tinder, and will help
- Firewood – the wood that maintains the fire
The tinder is what will start the hole fire up. As tinder you can use newspaper, tree bark
fatwood or leaves. The tinder doesn’t have to burn for long periods of time. It just has to burn long enough to light the kindling.
The kindling is the part that makes or breaks the fire. Most unsuccessful fires don’t light up because they lack kindling. Softwood is usually a good choice for kindling, some of the best and most common options are: Pine, Poplar, Cedar and Spruce.
Tinder on it’s own doesn’t have the ability to light the firewood, this is why you want to use kindling which can light up firewood, but can’t maintain a fire pit on its own.
Firewood is what you use to maintain the fire in the fire pit. Hardwood is the best choice for firewood. Just make sure that what you are getting is seasoned wood, not green wood. Green wood is wood that has been recently cut, so it still has a lot of moisture inside of it. Seasoned wood has been chopped up and left to dry for 6 to 12 months, which makes it perfect for any fire.