If you live in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Northern Ontario or northern British Columbia, you had better be able to handle mosquitoes, blackflies and cold weather.
If you chose to live in Osoyoos – or anywhere in the Okanagan Valley for that matter – you had better enjoy the sunshine and blazing hot summer days.
And you had better come to realize that dealing with the potential of wildfires is simply a reality and way of life to all of us who are lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful parts of this wonderful country.
As residents in Oliver, Osoyoos, Rock Creek and other areas in this region discovered two years ago, dangerous summer wildfires are part of life when you live in a region that regularly receives blazing hot weather and very little precipitation for weeks on end.
With more than 14,000 B.C. residents evacuated from their homes and more than 230 wildfires burning across the province, we’ve been fortunate so far in Osoyoos and the South Okanagan to have escaped any major catastrophe relating to forest fires.
A large wildfire near Princeton is the closest to this region so far this summer.
But with more scorching hot weather in the forecast, that situation may not last much longer.
Last Friday, a campfire ban was put in place across this region as the forest fire hazard warnings reached the extreme level.
There’s basically nothing anyone can do when a forest fire breaks out as a result of a lightning strike in the middle of a summer rainstorm.
But it’s prudent that every single resident use extra precaution at this time of year and do their part to ensure they are part of the solution and not the problem when it comes to wildfire prevention.
There is simply no excuse for ignoring the campfire ban that is in place across the province and absolutely no excuse for throwing a lit cigarette outside the window of your vehicle. We haven’t had a drop of rain in Osoyoos in weeks and most of the Southern Interior of B.C. is bone dry after weeks on end of blazing hot temperatures that have reached as high as 40 degrees here in Osoyoos.
The wildfire situation is likely to get worse before it gets better across the province and here in the South Okanagan, so we reiterate how crucial it is for every individual to do the right thing and make sure they don’t do anything that could accidentally spark a human-caused fire.
The wildfire situation is so bad in B.C. right now that more than 300 firefighters from outside the province have been called in to assist provincial crews. Firefighthing equipment, including helicopters and planes, from the Canadian Forces have also been called in to assist efforts on the ground.
We’re less than two weeks into July and just over three weeks into summer, so it appears the fire hazard ratings will remain extreme in this region for weeks to come.
We urge everyone to be safe, obey the rules and cross our collective fingers the dangerous wildfires that blanketed this region two years ago don’t return.
There’s nothing we can do when Mother Nature acts out, but we all have a duty to act responsibly, use extra caution and avoid making stupid decisions under such treacherous conditions.
