Sunday, July 05, 2015

Burning Down the House

We were warned to prepare for severe weather events of increasing intensity, frequency and duration and that cautionary heads up has already come to pass.

I went out back to gaze into the brilliant night sky before bed last night.  I awoke to find the sky had turned a dirty yellowish-grey, smoke from a forest fire over near Sechelt on the mainland.  Around here we're expecting to be next.  After months of abnormally high temperatures and exceptionally low rainfall our local forests are tinder dry just waiting for a careless hiker or thunderstorm to spark a major wildfire or several.

Saskatchewan is burning.  Alberta is burning.  Alaska's wildfire season is already the worst on record.  Fires are raging along the coast, right down into Mexico. British Columbia crews are fighting several fires but, as yet, we've been spared the sort of conditions that have beset Saskatchewan and Alberta.  With all the dead pine forests devastated by beetle infestations there's loads of fuel throughout the interior just waiting for a spark.

Rain would sure be welcome but nobody is expecting that anytime soon.

3 comments:

Lorne said...

I was watching the news last night, Mound, and it was reported that over 500 wildfires are burning from the Territories through to Saskatchewan. The map showed most of BC. under threat due to your drought conditions. You have my concern and sympathies, for whatever they are worth.

The Mound of Sound said...

Well, Lorne, we can take comfort knowing that we've got Captain Pipeline in charge. I fault Harper only for his abject indifference to global warming and climate change. There's not much he can do except, perhaps, declare the worst affected areas disaster zones.

Anyong said...

God help us all if that man is re-elected.