There’s something to be said about building campfires and gathering around this at night. Apart from providing light, campfires give some much-needed heat and coziness, making this a quintessential part of just about every camping trip.
Not to mention, this serves as the perfect backdrop for telling spooky stories around the fire. It can likewise be used for cooking, making even the most popular camping snack: smores. At times, these fires even help ward off animals and predators from coming close to the campsite.
No matter how dazzling these campfires may seem, these wood fires are actually quite detrimental not only to the environment but to the people around it. There are dangers that come with building a wood fire as well as being around it.
What are Wood Fires?
A wood fire is simply a type of fire that primarily used wood for fuel. A campfire is essentially a type of wood fire since this makes use of wood to burn. These wood fires are often found in campsites and campgrounds designed for cooking, as a light source, warmth, and even at the core of social activities.
Besides campgrounds, wood fires are also being used around the world for pretty much the same reason. From cooking to heat and even as a light source, these fires have been deemed essential, but these undoubtedly come at a cost.
These wood fires tend to produce wood smoke. This is the result that comes from the burning of wood alongside other organic matter.
Negative Impact of Wood Fires
The benefits of wood fires and campfires are already quite established, but many people still aren’t aware of the negative effect that these fires bring. Healthwise or environmental-wise, burning wood is harmful. Below are some of its negative effects.
Environmental Effects
There’s a laundry list of negative effects that come from making wood fires, including that of campfires. As a matter of fact, many of these outcomes are directly related to one another, but it cannot be denied that burning wood has a dire effect on the environment.
Wood fires play a significant part in contributing to air pollution. This is because it carries with it not only fine particles, but other pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, mercury, and even greenhouse gases.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are also gases that are released by the burning of wood and contribute to the further deterioration of the ozone layer due to the pollution that it creates. Wood fires can create gases such as benzene and formaldehyde, both of which are considered carcinogens.
The gases and pollutants released into the air, including carbon dioxide and methane, are key players in increasing climate change. As these climate impacts worsen, the more the world tends to experience warmer and rising temperatures over time, veering away from the balance in climates that were once observed in nature.
Health Risks and Effects
Campfires and wood fires in general can affect your health. As mentioned, wood smoke contains a mixture of fine particles as well as gases. These also contained a number of toxic air pollutants such as formaldehyde, benzene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the latter of which makes it smell good and comforting.
Given these, wood smoke can pose health risks to individuals, particularly in terms of their breathing and general lung health. With microscopic particles in the wood smoke, there’s a danger of having these go through the respiratory system and the eyes, bringing about not only difficulty in breathing and triggering asthma attacks, but also causing the eyes to burn.
People who are already suffering from existing lung and heart conditions are particularly at risk of further exacerbating their disease. Children are likewise at risk from wood smoke.
Heart attacks can happen or be triggered by fine particles. Other heart conditions that can stem from wood smoke include irregular heart rhythms, heart failure, and stroke, all of which can be heightened by those who already have heart-related diseases.
Other Harmful Effects That Come with It
Other Harmful Effects That Come with ItApart from polluting the air and the environment, campfires can also be a source of wildfires, especially if it is improperly done and gets out of control. Campsites may seem safe since there are firepits within the area, but strong, harsh winds can blow embers and ignite dry leaves in the surrounding area.
Wood fires are particularly frequent in hotter areas and around 40% of these stem from human activities, which, of course, include wood fires, may it be intentional, accidental, or from negligence.
Campfires are undoubtedly pretty to look at, but their effects aren’t so great. Not only do they damage the soil, but it also affects the tree roots as well. With many people doing this collective action, this leaves the soil full of chemicals, which can inadvertently affect the life rooted in it and the people who rely on the land.
Other Alternatives to Campground Fires
With wood fires ruining the environment and putting individuals in harm’s way, finding other ways to gain access to light and heat sources during camping trips, among other things, is essential.
If there is no other choice but to burn fuel in order to gain heating for your needs, opting for choices that have significantly lower particle emissions is the way to go. For example, propane firepits are alternatives you might want to consider for your camping trips.
Other eco-friendly alternatives that have made themselves apparent in recent years include bioethanol resources and fireplaces. Made from plant sources, these provide a safer and more accessible option to many, producing little to no emissions and harmful byproducts.
Using Wood Fire At A Campground – Be A Good Neighbor
When you are in a campground, you probably love to have your own firepit, sit and cook around it during the evenings. If the campground is crowded this means lots of burning fires within close vicinity of one another with potentially harmful smoke. All this smoke will go into your RV and your tent which is everything but healthy.
I’ve been to many campgrounds where the smoke is unbearable, every site has a wood-burning fire and the smoke goes everywhere, impossible to avoid it.
Please be considerate of others around you. Here is how:
- Don’t leave your fire and let it burn out. Many times this generates lots of harmful smoke. Just put it out quickly with water when you are done.
- When you notice your fire generates more smoke than flames, fix it or put it out. You are probably smoking your neighbors out.
- Don’t put your fire on and leave it burning all day. Just do it when you are actually there and using it.
- Alternatively, consider buying a propane firepit and use that for your camping trips.
Precautions You Can Take Against Wood Fires
In the event that there are wood fires or campfires near you with lots of smoke, you need to steer clear and go indoors, especially for children and adults who are dealing with lung and heart conditions.
If you have an RV, stay inside and turn on your AC or have a HEPA air filter that you can run inside.
The Takeaway
Now that you know more about the negative effects that these wood fires and campfires bring, avoiding doing these, as well as steering clear from locations or people that practice this, can help secure your safety and security.
Ultimately, however, there is still a need to change to renewable energy sources in order to foster a more sustainable future. By extension, educating people about the impact of wood heating can also go a great way in helping move towards low or zero-carbon energy sources that are good for both people and the environment.
