Decide Where to Keep a Fire Extinguisher at a Winter Campsite

What does the law say about campground extinguishers?

The Ministry of Government Legislation's everyday law information describes the standards a business must meet to register a campground. One item says to provide a suitable number of extinguishers for the size of the campground and place them where they are easy to see. The same standards also require posting a facility layout, instructions for use, and emergency procedures where visitors can easily see them, facilities or equipment for reporting emergencies, secured evacuation routes, and resident staff who know emergency response procedures.

This guidance gives no numbers for how many to place or at what spacing. The standard falls on the operator. What is said to users is in the National Fire Agency's camping safety rules, which include an item to learn the facility layout around the campsite, the locations of shelters and extinguishing equipment, and the safety rules.

Where should you keep an extinguisher at your own site?

In its camping safety rules, the National Fire Agency advises using open flame outside the tent at a set distance, and not using stoves or heaters inside the tent. It also has an item about not leaving anything that poses a fire risk near appliances such as stoves. In the agency's October 2024 guidance, bringing a fire extinguisher is also listed as a camping safety rule.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Safety Learning Center says to keep an extinguisher visible and easy to use, and not exposed to sun or damp. These are the two standards the Ministry sets for location. Neither the National Fire Agency nor the Ministry of Government Legislation guidance gives a number such as keeping it within some meters of a stove or the entrance. With no number, judge for yourself when you arrive whether it is visible and easy to reach, and out of the sun and damp.

What kind of extinguisher should you have?

There are three kinds of extinguishers in public materials that you can carry over to camping.

The vehicle rules concern extinguishers that must be installed or kept in a car, so they are separate from the campground standards. According to the National Fire Agency, passenger cars with 5 or more seats are covered in addition to vehicles with 7 or more seats. The agency said it applies from vehicles newly made, imported, or sold after December 1, 2024, and to vehicles registered on a change of ownership, and does not apply retroactively to already registered vehicles.

What should you check on an extinguisher?

The National Fire Agency points out that extinguishers have a usable period. The service life is 10 years, and after a performance check by the Korea Fire Institute it can be used for 3 more years, once only. A 2019 explanation also said extinguishers over 20 years old are often seen in public places.

You judge performance by the pressure gauge. The needle should be in the green zone, the container should have no deformation, damage, or corrosion, and the safety pin should be firmly in place. An extinguisher that has a problem or is old should be handed to a specialist such as a waste extinguisher collection and recycling company, or reported through the district office website or in person before disposal. A disposal fee applies by size.

How do you use an extinguisher when there is a fire?

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Safety Learning Center gives four steps.

1. Carry the extinguisher to the fire.
2. Pull the safety pin on the handle.
3. Stand with your back to the wind and aim the hose at the fire.
4. Squeeze the handle hard and sweep from side to side like a broom.

It also says children should not use the extinguisher and should get to a safe place. The same page explains that pouring water on a cooking oil fire is dangerous because the oil is so hot that the water spatters explosively and boils over, which is worth keeping in mind for oil fires while cooking at a campsite. Report by calling 119, and calmly say that there is a fire and the address.

Let me also point to the first step so you never have to take the extinguisher out. The first item in the National Fire Agency's camping safety rules is, after you finish enjoying the campfire, to check even for embers and put out any remaining fire.