Mound fire and fire pan: fire without burn scars

The top layer of forest soil often consists of humus, roots, needles and leaves – all organic material that can burn or smoulder itself. A fire on it burns not only the wood but also the soil, kills plant roots and soil life and leaves a burn scar. Mineral soil and sand, by contrast, consist of rock and do not burn.

A layer of sand or mineral soil several fingers thick acts as insulation: the heat of the fire does not get through to the ground underneath. A base, such as a fireproof mat, under the mound makes dismantling easier because you can remove everything in one go. The fire pan works on the same principle, except that the metal on stones creates the distance from the ground. A layer of sand inside protects the pan as well.

The mineral layer must be thick enough and larger than the fire. If it is too thin, the heat gets through anyway. Do not use soil with roots or dark humus – it can smoulder itself. Good mineral soil can be found, for example, in the root hole of a fallen tree or as sand and gravel in a dry stream bed.

Keep the fire small and use thin wood. Thin wood burns completely to fine ash, whereas thick logs leave charred chunks that cannot be scattered inconspicuously. Let the fire burn down in good time so that only ash is left at the end.

Dismantling is part of it: extinguish the ash with water, stir and feel whether everything is cold. Only then scatter the cold ash widely and take the sand or soil back to where it came from. Scattering warm ash risks starting a new fire.

Mound fires and fire pans make sense where fire is allowed but no fire site exists – for example on a rock slab that should not be blackened, or in sensitive nature. They are suitable for small cooking and warming fires, not for big campfires.

An existing fire site always remains the first choice, because the ground there has already been affected. In many areas, fires outside designated sites are prohibited anyway – a stove is then the alternative. A mound fire never replaces permission, and during a fire ban there is no mound fire either.

The biggest hidden danger is peat, moss and humus-rich soil. There, embers can creep into the ground unnoticed and smoulder underground for days until they break out again somewhere else. If you cannot build a very thick mineral layer, do without a fire.

Like every fire, this one must never be left unattended, not even briefly. Keep extinguishing water within reach and check the local rules and current wildfire danger beforehand. If a fire gets out of control, do not fight it alone: get yourself and others to safety and immediately call the local emergency number (112 in the EU).

Mound fires and fire pans are named in the Leave No Trace principles as ways to make fires with as little impact as possible, where fire is permitted and appropriate.

The bottom of a small barbecue, for example, makes a suitable fire pan. Building and dismantling a mound fire takes about a quarter of an hour – little effort for leaving the spot looking as if you had never been there.