Fire Safety

With a new season slowly entering Calgary, citizens are taking advantage of the remains of summer. Soon golden leaves will start falling to the ground, but for now the sun is shining late into the evening and the flowers are still in bloom.Tis’ the season for last minute camping trips, BBQ’s and late night adventures. Summers in Calgary are precious, after all.

This summer had a very smoky finale. After weeks of raging forest fires in B.C and northern Washington, smoke drifted into Calgary. The sun was obscured, the air was thick and people were warned not to go outdoors. At one point, Calgary air quality rated at 17 on a 1-10 scale. Unfortunately in some cities bad air is a daily struggle. However, for Calgary this was quite the shock to the system.

Fires can be caused by a number of things: lightening strikes, machine malfunction, or just straight up arson. However, the most common cause of forest fires is recklessness. People get lazy, they are forgetful, they don’t think ahead well enough–there are a million ways that reckless behaviour will manifest when it comes to fire safety. The problem is that this recklessness can lead to massive ecosystem destruction, cost millions of dollars in damages and destroy peoples lives. This is not an issue that should be taken lightly.

So how can you help prevent the smoke we had in Calgary?

Be informed. If you’re going to an area that has a fire ban, respect it. You don’t know better than the professionals. If you are desperate to make smores over the fire, go to an area that doesn’t have a fire ban.

Be prepared. Make sure you have the proper materials to both contain the fire and to put out the fire. So many people forget water or sand to put out their fires and instead just leave them. All it takes is a spark to ruin an entire forest.

Be careful. Don’t get lazy. Make sure you follow the rules and properly take care of the fire. Don’t ever just assume it will be okay, or that a small fire is no big deal. In places as dry as Alberta, a small fire can turn into a deadly inferno.

Enjoy the last bit of summer, but be smart! If everyone does their part, next year we shouldn’t have to sit through two weeks of smoky air.

Posted by Ken Richter on

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