Tip Sheet
This page lists ideas for reducing the chance of harmful fires at homeless camps, tent cities, and auto parking sites. These tips can’t make a bad situation “safe”, but they’re small, potentially doable ideas for improving the odds.
Cooking Fires
- Put an extinguisher nearby.
- Cook outside instead of inside.
- Move a safe distance from shelters.
- Move from over grass to over dirt or concrete.
- Surround with stone, brick, or metal.
- Store spare fuel away from trash piles, shelters, and plants.
Heating Fires
- Put an extinguisher nearby.
- Move a safe distance from shelters.
- Move from over grass to over dirt or concrete.
- Replace indoor heaters with heated rocks or hot water bottles.
Lighting
- Replace a flame light with an electric one.
- Replace an open flame with a closed lantern or candle holder.
Generators
- Prefer diesel to gasoline.
- Store spare fuel a safe distance from the generator.
- Attach a funnel to the generator to avoid splashes while refueling.
- Refuel with the generator off.
Shelters
- Make sure there are two ways out.
- Put a cutting tool for escape in a soft-shelled tent.
- Put a detector in the shelter.
- Put an extinguisher in the shelter.
- Replace soft-shell tents with hard structures.
Camp Layout
- Move shelters further apart, so direct flame or radiant heat from one won’t easily ignite the next.
- Make sure there are enough exits through fencing or other barriers.
- Move shelters off of dry grass.
Electrical Connections
- Replace illicit taps into power lines with solar or other options.
- Replace uninsulated wires with insulated ones.
- Reduce the number of connections into a power line, power strip, or other splitter.
- Move power cords away from flammable structures, trash piles, and plants.