It’s about time we put a price on fires.
The Shuswap has been inundated over the past few weeks with citizens who are all too pleased to be getting out the matches and gas cans in an effort to clean up their properties by burning grass or other wood and garden waste. Unfortunately, some of these people have also conducted these fires without having the proper equipment on site or taking the proper precautions. And that has ended up in calls to 911 when the fires get out of control.
This results in dispatching fire trucks and emergency personnel, many of whom operate on a volunteer basis and must take time away from their regular jobs, to head out to extinguish a blaze that was primarily caused by a lack of common sense.
Proponents of open burning argue that alternative costs of getting rid of organic waste are prohibitive, even though residential garden waste can be taken to the landfill and disposed of for free at certain times of the year. Yes, there can be a cost to getting rid of this waste, but it’s high time there be a cost to burn waste as well.
If someone requires an emergency call out due to an out-of-control bonfire or grass burn, that property owner should be forced to pony up the costs of the fire call. Maybe citizens would think twice about taking the proper precautions if they knew a bill would be coming directly back to them. Maybe it might make people think twice about burning willy-nilly at all, and instead look at options other than burning, which can cause air quality concerns for many Shuswap residents.
If you burn, you should be prepared to take financial responsibility for your actions.
– Salmon Arm Observer
