Known on YouTube for their wildlife and fishing videos, a group of men who go by internet name Backing Boys made a shocking discovery in Wood Lake last month.
“Little fire bags of death” is what the fishermen called it, after burning plastic bags fell from the sky and into the water.
At least three bags went high into the Lake Country sky before landing in Wood Lake.
The men fished the plastic bags out of the water, noting the bags were very large.
Concerned not only about the bags polluting the lake, the men were also worried about the risk of a forest fire the lanterns posed.
Their video, posted both to YouTube and Facebook, has gained a lot of reaction from the community.
Note: This video contains strong language
Many are now thanking the men for cleaning up the bags while others are disappointed in those who lit the lanterns.
“No cure for stupid…but those lanterns should be a criminal offence,” said one woman online.
Kelowna deputy fire chief Scott Cronquist said there is no bylaw in the city regarding sky lanterns.
“You are not allowed to have anything with open flame in the city, such as backyard campfires, they are not allowed,” he said.
“You can have any gas or propane appliances as long as they are supervised and not homemade. So they have to be CSA approved.”
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Cronquist does not believe the sky lanterns were used with gas or propane as they wouldn’t stay lit for very long and might be too heavy to lift into the air.
“We haven’t had any issues in Kelowna with sky lanterns per say, but we do not recommend that people use them as anything with an open flame that goes into the sky and comes down, (as that) could catch other material on fire,” explained Cronquist.
“With our dry conditions right now we are asking that people please don’t use these.”
It remains unclear who sent the lanterns flying over Wood Lake, although those on social media appears to have their suspicions.
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