Last summer our kids were fascinated by a PBS special on the Hayman Fire. Every night after bath time they wanted to watch it, and asked tons of great questions: Why did the person start the fire? What will happen to them? What happened to the animals that lived there? All the typical 3 and 5 year old stuff. A few weeks later, we were in the Jeep headed into one of our favorite off-road trips and camping spots. Its an easy road with lots of camping spots along side it. More importantly, it is just north of where they Hayman fire was. Anyhow, as we drive in, I notice an empty campsite where a small fire is still burning in the fire ring (in this case, a small ring of rocks). Clearly the occupants from the night before carelessly packed up and left. I immediately pulled over and had the boys get out of the Jeep and, together, we knocked down the fire and put it out completely. It was a great chance to teach them how to make sure the fire was cold. As you can imagine, this experience led them to ask even more questions. I did my best to answer them, but went looking for assistance from the number one authority on forest fires: Smokey Bear. The Smokey Bear site has tons of great information and games that can really help you talk with your kids about the dangers of forest fires and how they can help prevent them. Playing the games with my boys made for a really fun way of having a conversation that was quickly getting deep, but still helping them learn at the same time. If you have kids, its a great resource that I would highly recommend.