After our long winters, we used to look forward to summer, but more and more, I am coming to dread it.
Lately our summers have meant thick smoke from far away forest fires blanketing our valley, obscuring the mountains and the sun. The smoke would remain for weeks. Last year we had our first nearby forest fire, which caused us to evacuate our house. Now this year, after a relatively cool and showery spring, a very hot and dry period arrived, and we are back in the Extreme Fire Hazard Category.
We had a lightning storm in the wee hours of Friday morning, then yesterday, hazy smoke began filling the sky from far away fire and the day was filled with the sound of helicopters. On the Forest Service website, I saw that there was a 50 ha. (120 acre) fire, caused by a lightning strike that was just eight miles east of McBride. On our trip to visit friends last night, we could see the fire and the helicopter flying back and forth from the Fraser River to the fire, carrying water to dump.
After getting back home, I received a text message from the Regional District declaring an Evacuation Alert for the area east of McBride. Luckily, we are not in that area, but it is only three miles away from our house. Hopefully we will not be getting any strong winds today that will cause the fire it to spread.
It is scary to see how the Earth’s climate has changed and the disasters that change has wrought. It is sobering knowing that our climate will just be getting worse in the future. Sorry for the pessimism, but it is time to accept reality.
View my paintings: davidmarchant2.ca
No comments:
Post a Comment