Fire Ant Bite Remedies

We go backpacking in remote areas where we are far from medical help and must deal with problems immediately. One night I woke up to find half my face red and swollen from red ant bites. Ants inject formic acid which causes the pain in nerve endings. If the formic acid is neutralized immediately, the pain is much less. First I applied a baking soda paste from my first aid kit but without much relief. Then I used ashes from the campfire. The relief was rapid and I didn't feel any more pain. We were in Hawaii in Dec where I was bitten by about 50 fire ants...much more painful than any other insect bite I have ever had. We didn't have any baking soda or ashes and I wanted to treat it immediately. In a hotel room, there are few options, but I found the strongest soap that I could and lathered myself for about 20 minutes in the shower. The soap neutralized the acid and the water from the shower diluted the acid. The pain left almost instantly. I attribute the success of this to being treated in less than 2 minutes. Three places that I missed had swellings about 2 1/2" across. I would not have wanted to have 50 welts like that on my body.