PLEASE be careful with fire pits!

I am still shaking. Those of you who have backyard fire pits, PLEASE be sure the fire is out when you go inside.

Snowy and I were just walking up the lane about 7 am when we saw an active fire outside in the leaves in a neighbor's yard. I pounded on their door--woke everyone up in their underwear!--yelling there was fire. It had rained in the night and the ground/leaves were all wet, and yet the embers from their fire pit that they were sure were out before they retired for the night, had gotten started into a circle of fire--outside their fire pit--about a yard in diameter. Lucky for them Snowy and I were out for a walk because fire can spread very fast even among wet leaves.


We weren't so lucky 10 years ago. It had been a hot and dry summer. The fire that burned our house down had started outside, too, and became an inferno in a matter of minutes because the leaves, the wood deck, and our wood-sided house were so dry. Although our fire didn't start from a fire pit (probably from coals that weren't out from a barbeque) ashes can stay hot enough to burn again for long periods of time if new flammable materials are added.


PLEASE be careful with fire pits, especially this time of year with all the leaves coming down!