Protecting Camps From Wildfires

Fire-suppression strategies require long-term diligence over quick, modern fixes

By Jefferey Spivey

Safety is always a priority at camps. Be it lifesaving best practices in the water or interactions with wildlife, camp directors (and staff members) are tasked with minimizing campers’ risk of injury while protecting camp structures and natural habitats. Increasingly, though, wildfires are complicating camps’ efforts.

© Can Stock Photo / ivandan

Throughout this past summer, millions of Americans faced hazardous air quality due to drifting smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires. And in the U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that 18,015 fires had burned from January to May 2023. While we think of camps in terms of communing with nature and enjoying life’s simple pleasures, the continued wildfire threat also calls for vigilance, and updates to some long-held camp traditions.

“What I see across the country is we’ve already built a lot of structures into places where wildfire can threaten them,” says Michele Steinberg, Wildfire Division Director for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). “So, we’re typically not telling people, ‘Well, tear it down and start over again.’ We’re saying, ‘What can you do to mitigate in place?’”

For example, many camps construct cabins as elevated structures supported by stilts instead of by solid foundations. This leaves space beneath each cabin, where debris, leaves, and brush can gather, serving as potent fuel for a wildfire.

“When wildfire is encroaching, you have flames moving through vegetation, but you also have embers,” Steinberg says. “Where stuff can get underneath, embers can also go underneath.”

National Fire Protection Association

Camps can correct this issue with solutions like metal skirting or less-expensive fine metal, mesh screening. In instances where budgets don’t allow for structural upgrades, due diligence is effective, too.

“If you can get under there to clear out so that you don’t have accumulation of material, [that’s] probably your best bet because wind will move the embers through,” she says. “If there’s something for them to ignite there, that’s the problem. They get caught up in the nooks and crannies.”

However, Steinberg also advises that camps assess their structures from the roof to the walls to the foundation. Some common recommendations to reduce fire risk include non-flammable roofing, exterior walls, and removal or regular cleaning of gutters. Too, she recommends closing windows and screens, and, if possible, using double-pane windows because they don’t crack when exposed to radiant heat from nearby ignition sources.

If there are structures on-site with concrete or stone foundations, those alone aren’t enough to mitigate risk. If they’re attached to wooden stairs, for instance, that’s an ignition source connected directly to the structure. Just as with elevated cabins, the stairs (or other flammable attachments) must be routinely swept out.

Still, when it comes to minimizing wildfire risk, there’s more to think about than just structures.

Protecting A Structure’s Home Ignition Zone

The most effective fire-suppression strategies take a holistic approach, safeguarding everything within 100 feet of structures. The NFPA refers to this area as the Home Ignition Zone, which can be applied to any structure or dwelling. The organization distributes detailed graphics about the zone as part of its educational materials.  

What’s most important to consider is radiant heat from ignition sources close to cabins or other structures. “That could be a pile of firewood. That could be a vehicle. That could be a big stand of trees or shrubs,” Steinberg says. She recalls camping at a site in western Washington, where she and a group of teenagers cleaned out debris from wild berry bushes to reduce fire risk. “That stuff all accumulates. It dries up. And if it’s right up close to the house, you’re going to have ignition into that vegetative material that will transfer and conduct right to the structure.” 

If 100 feet sounds like a daunting guideline, Steinberg says it’s most critical to manage everything within five feet. Even a five-foot separation between a cabin and flammable materials can make a difference, reducing radiant heat and eliminating anything that can be ignited by embers falling from the roof or blowing into the zone. This includes landscaping, which is often flush with structures for aesthetic purposes.

National Fire Protection Association

“It doesn’t mean you can’t have it,” Steinberg cautions. “It means spacing is very important.”

In considering other best practices, camp directors should ensure roof lines are clear, no trees are overhanging cabins or structures, and no “fuel for the fire” is within that crucial five-foot zone. Steinberg compares cabin maintenance to trail maintenance—as park officials work to clear debris that threatens trail integrity, camp directors must apply those same practices to all structures on-site.

This approach even includes requisite camp activities like campfires. As opposed to discontinuing campfires altogether, Steinberg stresses safe behavior, starting with clearing the space around a fire.

“We know people are going to use campfires and other kinds of outdoor fire,” she says. “So, it’s not so much, oh, nobody should ever light a campfire in a place that possibly has a wildfire. It’s more about the safe practices to begin with.” Those practices include not only extinguishing campfires but also situational awareness when starting one. Campers should ensure there’s nothing nearby that might ignite. Additionally, excessively dry, hot, or windy conditions aren’t ideal for fires. Camps can look to the National Weather Service and local weather stations for the latest on their area’s fire danger. The NFPA also sends out educational messaging that teaches proper behaviors from a positive standpoint, as opposed to simply restricting what people can do.

In short, protecting campgrounds from fire damage is a continuous process with no quick fixes, even though some suppression tactics may suggest otherwise. 

National Fire Protection Association

Long-Term Safety Over Short-Term Upgrades

Some newer camps are looking to tech-based or other advanced hydration fixes (like foam) as they construct or enhance structures. In Steinberg’s view, these are short-term solutions, and their effectiveness is highly dependent on individual camp circumstances, like proximity to water sources. Furthermore, these solutions are often no different than what a local fire service may provide.

Camps would be better served focusing on the safety of campers.  

“If you’ve got a whole bunch of campers there for weeks, how are you getting them in and out? Because foaming down structures does not necessarily prevent fire problems within the camp,” she says. She advises that camp directors plan for worst-case scenarios, determining the best ways to evacuate everyone and ways to keep everyone safe if evacuation isn’t possible. That requires a partnership with the local fire department before the start of camp season. Area experts can make recommendations and even visit the campsite to walk through emergency planning, including the best spots to shelter in place if needed.

“What are some of the best things we can do to make sure our campers are safe and our buildings are safe? I think it’s very site-dependent on what the conditions are,” Steinberg says.

If camp operators are still considering upgrades, Steinberg suggests talking to other professionals in the industry to learn what has and hasn’t worked before investing.

No Camp Is Immune

While it may be tempting to think of wildfire risk affecting certain regions of the country, Steinberg reinforces that all camps should practice fire safety, regardless of location.

For example, though Florida tends to have wetter weather during the spring and summer, its winters are drier, creating situations where “there’s a lot of vegetative fuel to burn,” Steinberg says. To add to that, many of the state’s native-plant species like Palmetto trees are fire-dependent and aid fire spread.

Another factor is less predictable weather patterns, which are shifting wildfire risk to different places and times of the year.

“There really is no place in the United States that is completely free of this. There’s always a risk,” she says.

No matter where camps are, one way to get everyone in the right mindset around fire safety is education. Steinberg recalls a pilot program in Washington state where middle-school students worked to clear a five-foot zone around a cabin, all while gaining a deeper understanding of how to personally prevent fire risk. They were able to see older, more vulnerable structures with deteriorating roofs and practice suppression strategies. These lessons can impact campers and inspire them to share their knowledge with others once they’ve returned home.

She says, “Camp operators could think, ‘What are some programs for our campers that we also get a benefit [from] in terms of some fire safety?’ It’s educational, but it’s also helping the camp to stay in the right condition.”

Jefferey Spivey is a journalist and author based in Urbandale, Iowa. Reach him at jeffereyspivey@gmail.com.