[pct-l] campfires

[Eric Lee]

Judson wrote:
>
I was under the impression that fires of any kind were illegal in So. Cal.
Are they completely forbidden, or just discouraged, or does it vary from
place to place?
>

To specifically answer your question, the legality of a campfire varies from
place to place and from season to season in any given place.  In many areas
campfires are not a great idea, even if technically legal at the time, and
are strongly discouraged.  Especially this year.

You'll see a lot of people journaling about having campfires, even in places
where it's prohibited, because a lot of people aren't interested in changing
their behavior.  Campfires in particular are kind of a difficult behavior to
change because a lot of people have very strong associations between outdoor
camping and campfires, like you're not even really "in the wilderness"
unless you build a fire.  Fires are really nice for warmth, and for
companionship, and for cooking, and for all of those reasons many people
aren't willing to give them up.  Add a large dose of, "I'm a thru-hiker, I
live in the woods, I know what I'm doing, ain't no one going to tell me what
I can or can't do in my own living room," and, well, you get a lot of
campfires.  Very occasionally one escapes and causes problems, but usually
they don't, which only increases the sense of complacency.

Education can help a little bit but a lot of the problem comes down to
"will", not "knowledge".

To be clear, I'm not saying that campfires in high-fire-danger areas are ok;
quite the opposite.  I'm just describing why you see what you see.

Eric