Fire Safety and the Fire Triangle (No Lighting)
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What you will learn
- 1Name the three sides of the fire triangle: heat, fuel, and air
- 2Explain how taking one side away puts a fire out
- 3Follow the campfire rules with an adult in charge
- 4Show stop, drop, and roll
Mini Lesson
A campfire gives warmth and light. But fire is also very dangerous. Every fire needs three things to burn: heat, fuel, and air. We call this the fire triangle. Take away just one side, and the fire goes out. In this lesson you learn how fire works and how to stay safe. You never light anything.
🌿 The Wild Way (know the triangle)
- HEAT: a spark or a flame starts the fire and keeps it hot.
- FUEL: anything that can burn, like dry wood, leaves, and grass.
- AIR: the fire needs the oxygen in the air around it.
- PUT IT OUT: water cools the heat. Dirt or sand smothers it and blocks the air. Moving wood away takes the fuel.
🌿 Campfire rules
- ADULT IN CHARGE: an adult is always in charge of a fire. Never leave a fire alone.
- CLEAR CIRCLE: keep a big, clear circle around the fire with nothing that can burn.
- TIE IT BACK: tie back long hair and loose clothes. Walk, never run, near a fire.
- BE READY: keep water and a shovel next to the fire.
- PUT IT OUT COLD: the adult drowns it with water, stirs the ashes, and checks until it is cold. This is called drown, stir, feel.
- STOP, DROP, AND ROLL: if your clothes catch fire, stop, drop to the ground, cover your face, and roll until the flames are out. Then tell an adult at once.
In this lesson you NEVER light anything - no matches, no lighters, no sparks. An adult is always in charge of any fire, puts it out, and checks that it is cold. Stay outside the clear circle unless your adult says it is okay.
Words to know
fire triangle
The three things every fire needs: heat, fuel, and air.
e.g. Take one side of the fire triangle away and the fire goes out.
heat
The hotness that starts a fire and keeps it burning.
e.g. Water cools the heat of a fire.
fuel
Anything that can burn, like dry wood, leaves, or grass.
e.g. Dry leaves are fuel, so keep them away from the fire.
oxygen
A gas in the air that a fire needs to burn.
e.g. Sand blocks the oxygen and the fire goes out.
smother
To cover something so no air can get to it.
e.g. The adult smothered the coals with dirt.
stop, drop, and roll
What to do if your clothes catch fire: stop, drop to the ground, cover your face, and roll.
e.g. We practiced stop, drop, and roll on the grass.
🧠 Survivor’s Trick: think "triangle". Every way to put out a fire breaks one side of it - cool the heat, block the air, or take away the fuel.
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