Life Lesson
Fast-Thinking Campers Put Out a Fire Before it Spread
People who did not know each other acted in unison to save a campsite
One of our favorite summer activities when my kids were young was camping trips. We would spend two weeks during my vacation from work and weekends spending time at campgrounds. Whether we went to one of our regular places or somewhere new, we always came home with our normal stories to tell — until one day when something out of the ordinary occurred.
Although we traveled to various other campgrounds, we favored one in particular, partly because we loved the accommodations with its clubhouse for the kids, and also its close proximity to our house.
It was ideal for our weekend trips.
We enjoyed our weekend trips so much, the only items we unpacked on Sunday nights upon returning home were food, clothing, and fishing bait leaving all our camping gear, tent, and sleeping bags ready for the following weekend’s adventure.
Change from a peaceful day
One time while visiting, on an otherwise calm day, someone from a few campsites away from ours yelled, “Help! Fire!”
In all the years of camping, I had never seen a fire become out of control at any campsite as each is furnished with a large fire pit on a flat surface, and nowhere near local flora.
People are careful to keep their campfires contained and campgrounds issue warnings on very dry days not to have one at all. What made this one even more unexpected — it was the middle of a hot day, why would anyone be making a fire?
My son, who was 12 at the time, and I, ran toward the voice as did other campers. We immediately came upon the corner of the woods covered with low flames, which were consuming mostly leaves and twigs along the edge of a wooded lot and burning a little too close to this person’s tent.
But there it was, spreading rapidly — a fire that had somehow gotten out of control.
People were running from every direction and without hesitation started stomping the fire out with their feet! Instinctively we knew by the time the fire department arrived the fire would have spread too far.
Everyone joined in
I did not want to see our favorite campground destroyed, and after telling my son to stay back, joined those who were encircling the fire stomping their way toward the center. Some remained bystanders as they watched what unfolded next.
The incident seemed to take about half an hour with between 18 to 20 people stomping inch by inch toward the middle, where we finally extinguished the flames.
We worked silently and fervently.
After it was under control and campers started throwing buckets of water on the area, the Fire Department arrived. They finished watering it down with hoses until there was nothing left but a huge black muddy mass of ground.
Everyone cheered and then went back to their campsites as if nothing had happened.
Reality sets in
As I walked away I realized the bottoms of my sneakers were hotter than an oven as were my feet! Jumping in to extinguish the fire seemed like the most natural thing to do at the time. No one seemed to give it any thought, we just did it.
We were lucky not to have gotten burned as we worked together — strangers when we started — comrades as we worked — then strangers as we parted never to mention it again.
Maybe we all felt safe because so many others had engaged in the activity, or maybe we were more concerned with putting out a fire that was sure to spread and we knew it was in our power to do something about it, so we did it?
Later on it got me thinking. How did people seem to know what to do without question? Was this type of fire more common at campgrounds than I knew?
Was I just never there to see one?
No, that can’t be true because I never saw remnants of a fire like this at any campgrounds I had ever visited. Surely there would be bare spots, and charred ground if there were.
So what made me do what I did? What made any of us do that?
If I had a chance to think about it, or if I were reading about someone else doing it, I would have thought it was a crazy idea.
Was this true mob mentality?
Were we so willing to follow a crowd we ran onto a burning lot like those cows that follow each other over a cliff? Or is this what true life is about — helping others or doing something beyond our normal limitations when there is perceived danger?
I thought about that many times and remembered while it was happening I had no fear, no thoughts of my safety, no clue of the consequences.
I blindly followed the crowd because it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
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