On a cool evening there’s nothing quite as delightful as a fire in your living room. For best enjoyment, though, make sure it stays in the fireplace.

Our recent sizzling hot temperatures here in Michigan thus far, have lessened enthusiasm for any extra heat indoors. But when it comes to real camping, something important seems to be missing without a campfire. Most will agree it’s a fine way to draw a family together, if safety permits it.

But if you’re in a carefully-monitored campground, you may be allowed to have a real campfire to sit around and admire the dancing flames. Those are the ones with fire holes that are enclosed and with clear ground all around. Even in these though, any fire should be drowned with water when going to bed or otherwise leaving the area.

Extremely dry weather in most parts of northern Michigan have eliminated the use of burning permits and prohibit the use of all state and federal lands until conditions change to a more permanent level. That means hard, soaking rains must saturate the ground and remain that way before campfires are permitted.

When pitching a tent or parking a camping unit in one of the primitive public or private areas, often people think it’s more like real camping. In these places you just have to use care when building a fire as just any old place won’t do. Ignoring this could get you into a lot of trouble if the fire should escape from your control. It could even be a killer.

Drought conditions can leave woodlands tinder-dry, when even a stray spark can ignite an area nearby. That can happen even though your campfire is built in a clear area. In some cases, you may lay the foundation for a forest fire without even realizing it.

For example, you should never build a campfire on or against an old, dry stump. Sure, it might seem like the ideal place to reflect light and heat toward where you’re sitting. Such a fire can find its way into the root system, then begin to travel underground. There, it may burn for days before finally coming to the surface again and perhaps starting a full-blown forest fire. Nobody ever wants that to happen but does nearly every year.

If no fire pit is available, the safest thing to do is to dig down to hard mineral soil to avoid any dry humus under the surface. As is the case with dry stump roots, humus is also a fine fire conductor which can burn for some distance before coming to the forest floor to start a wildfire.

A sandy or stone beach is usually safe for a campfire, but only if a strong wind is in a safe direction, blowing away from any nearby dry ground cover and trees. Careless fires can leave any woodland beauty spots looking terrible.