Just as the first significant wildfire of the summer was being fought last week by personnel from seven different fire halls and the BC Wildfire Service, came the news that $48,000 in fines were handed out on the B.C. Day long weekend for illegal campfires.
It was a slap in the face.
Even now, with fires burning in every corner of the province, people are still not taking the precautions that are not only common sense, but are actually required by law. Why aren’t people getting it?
There were 465 wildfires burning by Friday of last week, with more than 2,500 firefighters engaged in trying contain them, if not put them out entirely.
Lightning has caused some, but far too many, including the wildfire burning on Maple Mountain in Crofton, have been caused by people and their carelessness.
Dropped cigarette butts are frequent culprits, as are those illegal campfires. Then there are the absolute idiots who do things such as send open flames lanterns floating up into the sky without any thought to where they’re going to come down. No, we’re not kidding. That actually happened in Qualicum Beach last week. It was only extreme luck that a fire wasn’t started.
What will it take for people to both take the fire risk seriously, and connect their own behaviour to that risk? There seems to be a disconnect. A “that won’t happen to me” feeling. But it can happen to you. It’s happening all over the province. Even before the wildfire broke out in Crofton we were all breathing the smoke from these fires. The fire at Nanaimo Lakes was 179 hectares on Friday. Port Alberni has had three wildfires to deal with.
Maybe people will take this seriously: fines for breaking campfire bans are $1,150. Think that’s extreme? Try paying for the cost of fighting a wildfire. We’re currently at a total bill this year of $170 million and counting. Last year’s record-breaking fire season cost the province $564 million. That hits us all in the pocketbook come tax time.
We’ve so far been very fortunate that our one wildfire in the Cowichan Valley hasn’t devoured any homes. All too often people’s lives are turned upside down with evacuations, only to learn that almost everything they have has been lost to the flames. Imagine losing everything from your clothing to your furniture, to your photos.
We’re nowhere near the end of fire season yet. We implore everyone to make sure that our forest fire count in the Cowichan Valley stays at one.
