Bonfire Safety in A Drought

While many people like to have bonfires in the summer and fall, we are extremely dry right now.

That means we need to take more precautions.

With with conditions as dry as they are, there are many special precautions we all have to take.

One specific way is with a bonfire.

Storm team 10's chris piper joins us to explain more.

Tuesday was an overall much more comfortable day here in the wabash valley.

When we have comfortable days, we tend to have cooler, summer nights.

So when that happens, many people like to have bonfires this time of year.

But things are very dry right now, so there are certain things you need to do before you decide to light the match.

First, you want to make sure that you're staying away from any overhanging branches, or anything that's above the fire that could potentially catch on fire.

When you go to have your bonfire, you want to make sure that you leave at least a couple of feet of space where there's nothing that could potentially catch on fire.

Now if you're one of those people who likes to sit by the fire for hours at a time, you're probably going to have extra wood on standby.

If that's the case, it can catch on fire so make sure that you just stack it upwind.

And of course, with any fire, it doesn't hurt to have either a bucket of water or a hose on standby just in case things start to get a little out of control.

And if you can, simply take some of the water that's in your bucket, and just saturate the ground that's around the firepit.

And always remember, before you leave your fire, pour enough water on it so that its cool to the touch.

If it's too hot to touch, it is too hot to leave alone.

As we go through the next couple of weeks, storm team 10 will continue to keep you updated on just how dry we are, and if we end up coming out of this drought period.

Reporting in terre haute, chris piper, storm team 10.