On Sunday, we woke with the taste of smoke in our mouths.
The Lions Gate Bridge and downtown skyscrapers grew fainter behind a grey b rown haze. What could still be seen was cast in an eerie sepia tone, lit by an ominous red sun and particles of soot were blown through our window screens on a hot wind. We sheltered indoors, disconcerted, waiting for normalcy to return.
It’s been quite a shock to the system for the Lower Mainland, where normally serene summer weather prevails. Unless you can smell the smoke in your own hair, wildfires are something that happen on the evening news.
The past few days have been different.
It has hit us, literally, where we live. We can no longer ignore it.
Every year, there are wildfires in the province. But rarely this many, this intense, this early.
By Tuesday, there were 184 fires burning in the province. The cost of fighting them had already topped $90 million and one life had been lost fighting a blaze on the Sunshine Coast.
While most of these fires have natural causes, too many are being caused by careless people. Sadly, this may be a taste of things to come. The hot, dry conditions that allow them to spread so voraciously are only getting worse, climate scientists warn us.
That raises our risks, and it should also change our behaviour. We must take greater care, be wiser stewards and plan for more worst-case scenarios in our precious patch of earth.
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