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A plea to those backcountry-bound
e-KNOW Editorial
By Ian Cobb
This is the worst wildfire season in British Columbia since 1958.
And we’ve still got six to eight weeks of summer weather ahead of us.
It is as dry as the proverbial popcorn fart in the East Kootenay. There are three major wildfires burning and more keep cropping up, sometimes thanks to humans mucking about with fire when they have no business doing so.
There is a complete fire ban everywhere you go; that means NO fires – at all. As of today (August 4) there is a ban on off-road vehicle use in the backcountry, for fear of heat from engines igniting grasses or forest undergrowth that is as dry as bunched up toilet paper left in the sun for an entire week. In other words, it takes nothing to ignite the grass or undergrowth.
All that and August long weekend is here. Tens of thousands of people are on their way to the Rockies and Purcells to recreate. Emergency officials are on pins and needles, as are all residents of this region and province.
The simple fact is the entire Crown landscape should be closed now to ALL activity until there is substantial precipitation. It sucks. We wait all winter for summer to arrive so we can venture to our favourite backcountry spots and heal our hearts, minds and souls from nature’s glory but there comes a time for common sense and intelligence to take the lead. It is what it is; deal with it and be smart.
As Crown land remains open, for now, we are asking all who venture into the backcountry, or even the front country (provincial park campgrounds etc.), to please, please, please put the thought of a fire, however tiny you may make it, out of your heads.
Lighting a fire in the bush right now is akin to arson and, as far as we are concerned, those caught igniting a forest or grass fire should be charged with arson and jailed. That applies to the complete barking idiots who flick cigarettes out their windows. You are criminally negligent on many levels if you defy British Columbia’s fire ban and in this day of social media shaming, at risk of becoming an ‘anti-star’ on YouTube or Facebook.
The ignorance and selfishness of people who flick cigarettes or light campfires or set off fireworks, or defy other orders and requests from authorities during times like this, must be denied and punished. And if you see anything like this happening – please immediately call the authorities.
So for those who are still heading into the bush; don’t be THAT guy or gal and place other peoples’ lives and livelihoods in danger.
Every community in the East Kootenay is surrounded by the forests that recreationists seek and one careless moment fueled on by selfishness or absentmindedness can place thousands of lives in peril and ruin.
Thank you in advance for not burning down our homes. Stay safe in the bush and on the highways this weekend.
In closing: we offer our sincerest thanks to all the firefighters labouring at Island Pond, Verdant Creek, White River and elsewhere.
