In cooking, never pour the leftover grease in the fire. It will flame up. Always keep a bucket of water near the fire. If the day is windy, dig the fire pit deeper and remove all flammable material, dry grass, limbs, wood pile, etc. away from it. Fires can jump out of the pit on windy days. While the men are off fighting, have someone stay in camp to watch the fires. At the Battle of Franklin years ago, I was in camp while most everyone was away. It was a very windy day, strong winds, more than usual. More than one fire jumped the pit and the grass caught on fire and burned a tent and several areas before it could be contained. I fought it with my wool shawl but it was more than I could put out. A re-enactor happened to have a fire-extinguisher in his tent and we put it out before the whole camp ground caught on fire.
If you have room with your camp gear, an extinguisher is a bonus. I think it is a good idea for the camp commander to have one in his tent, hidden of course.
Brenda McKean
Tarheel Civilians
17 March 2007