Our sky is becoming heavy with the residual of wildfires with trees candling and some fires raging quite aggressively here in the Okanagan Valley. We had two fires on surrounding mountains near our home, both within two km over the past couple of days. Extreme heat (historic high temperatures exceeding 40C) and very little precipitation are combining for the perfect environment for uncontrollable fire situations. We could barely see the mountains on the southeast side of the lake the last couple of days and last night the smoke was so thick and we had to keep our windows closed all of last night. Thank heavens for air conditioning. This is a frequent summertime issue here in the north Pacific regions including British Columbia, Washington State and California. Kind of a nervous time and even with windows closed the smoke does permeate to our unit interior enough to cause me bothersome breathing issues with my allergies. The smell of quelched forest burn is distinctive, unpleasant and stressful, especially when it is just beyond our sight line over the mountains . Not much sleep last night as I fought the sinus congestion and breathing issues in addition to the lingering thoughts of close proximity of potentially threatening fires that, at this extremely hot and dry time of year, can and will spread rapidly. Fire response crews are on the scenes throughout the province, on the ground and in the air, and we can only pray for the great mercy and relief of rainfall which MAY occur this evening. We keep vigil monitoring news updates regularly. There is NO immediate threat in our own community where we live (Creekside Park) of the Shannon Lake district in West Kelowna despite the close proximity of these fires. If police come knocking with an evacuation alert/order well be in our car and out of here fast whether day or night. Mother Nature contributes to many of these fires through lightning strikes yet there continues to be the reckless human factor...smoking materials tossed through car windows into tinder-dry brush (PEOPLE, WHAT IN GODS NAME ARE YOU THINKING???), campfires swept by gusts of wind (campfires are now prohibited as are any activities involving open flame). There is serious criminal liability in the event of not just the spark of fires, intentionally or otherwise, but most importantly the threat to human and wildlife safety. In addition to looking to the heavens for relief we also implore ALL residents and visitors to these fire-prone regions to be doubly cautious on all fronts. We are in an extreme fire alert level at this time. Think carefully and we all stay safe.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 19:10:57 +0000
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