From The West Australian newspaper Saturday: WA burns expert Fiona Wood is worried by a spate of horrific hot coal burns in children, some of them toddlers. Dr Wood, who heads Princess Margaret Hospital's burns unit, said there were at least 15 cases this year and a wave since Easter. Many were caused by falling into hot coals and she was worried more would occur in the July school holidays when families headed north. Dr Wood said campfires that appeared to be out might be smouldering. "So if a kiddie runs through the ash they can sink into it and get burns to their feet," she said. "Some fall into the ash and get burns to their hands, arms and feet, particularly if they panic." Dr Wood said the best first aid was to apply clean, cool running water but ice or cold packs were not recommended. She said children with coal burns on hands or feet faced a long haul, often needing multiple skin grafts and surgery for limbs to function. Dr Wood urged people to ensure fires were out before leaving them. Esther Chaney, 7, of East Fremantle, faces surgery and grafts until she stops growing because of severe burns to her hand from a Dwellingup campfire three years ago. Her mother Sarah said they were packing up and their fire was out but Esther was playing with children near a site recently vacated. "She tripped and fell backwards into the campfire and put her hand straight into flames and red coals," Ms Chaney said. "The skin literally fell away. We were heart-broken because we were so safety conscious."

Hi Tony,

This is a very worthwhile post on this forum and you're to be commended for posting it but can I make a suggestion and please don't take this the wrong way, but if you break it up into a few paragraphs with a blank line between them it makes it much more readable.

cheers,

Jim

PS: Dr Wood is a world leader in burns injuries and a former Australian of the Year.

Thanks for the reminder Tony, Dr Woods as you know treats and has treated many of the Bali Bomb victims who suffered burns among others.

I think I've said this before................dont just cover a camp fire with soil.......in days or weeks........it can burst into flame.....and can cause a bushfire......or worse you could park your caravan over it not knowing what could happen at any time

Put Water Over the Coals

Once you've let the fire burn down, go ahead and pour a little water over it. If the fire smokes a great deal, give it a few more minutes to burn down before pouring more water over it. Pour the water slowly, watching for smoke. Continue to stir the coals around to make sure the water gets to all the coals and burnt pieces. You want to avoid smoke and you want to leave your fire cold to prevent the camp fire from suddenly whipping up and spreading.

Use Dirt

While water is the best solution for putting out a fire, if you don't have water or you have limited amounts, use moist dirt. Shovel dirt on top of the fire; you're trying to suffocate the fire since fire can't exist without oxygen. You'll have to stir the ash and burnt bits of wood to make sure the dirt has completely covered the embers. However, make sure you don't bury any burning embers as these can burst into flame.

Make Sure Your Fire's Out

Before you leave your campsite, you'll have to make sure your fire's completely out. To do this, move any light sources away from the fire. Poke a stick into the embers and watch for bright spots. Move any rocks as fire can exist beneath the rocks. If you notice any, pour more water over the campfire. Continue to do this until you're sure the fire's completely out. Some experts recommend feeling embers with your hands to make sure they're not hot.

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recently.....while camping.........some people had a rocky..heavy chained.....it saw another dog..jumped up to chase it.....came to the end of the chain staked to ground.......and ended up in the middle of a very large camp fire.....very burnt

Please as said...BE VERY VERY CAREFUL WITH FIRE

Jim Richo, point (and no offence) taken . . . and in fact non-paragraphed posts are one of my own pet hates! I'm always nagging my wife about her paragraph-less emails.

Obviously in the copy/paste exercise from the paper's web site, all the paragraphs fell out, irritating even me.

Funnily enough, the paper I took it from was the one I worked on for nearly 20 years. Obviously their standards have fallen since I left!

Cheers, Tony

Journalism standards and writing skills have fallen across the board, and they publish this stuff for the public to see their standards.

The campfire warning is always timely. A great reminder, with or without pars.

Another result of campfires that I hadnt thought of until it happened.... a woman had an asthma attack because of the smoke from a campfire some distance away. They had parked out of the smoke but then the wind changed. In the end they left.

We dont enjoy the smoke much when campfires are left smouldering while their "owners" are out fishing or whatever, have learned to keep upwind