(HealthDay News) -- Creating a campfire can be fun and practical, but it can lead to disaster if you don't follow some basic safety rules.

The National Wildlife Federation offers this advice:

• Use dead pieces of soft wood lying around to start the fire, including pine, cedar or fir. Make sure you keep the fire small.
• Keep water close by, so you can extinguish the fire when necessary. Make sure there is no debris nearby that could ignite.
• Build the fire inside a fireplace, stove or fire ring.
• Always stay with the fire when it is lit.
• To extinguish the fire, pour water, stir the ashes, and pour more water. Make sure the ashes are cold when you leave the fire.