I’ve stood on top of smoldering debris, mere feet away from licking flames, snapping pictures while Alberta fire crews battled a house and forest ablaze. It was my first newspaper job, another lifetime ago it seems, in a little hamlet of only 3,000 people just south of Fort McMurray called Lac La Biche.
That little town – where I covered my first bake sale, play, curling match, murder and plenty of fires – has been in the news this past week as one of the safe havens to which evacuees fled from the terrifying and apocalyptic forest fire that engulfed Fort Mac.
I thought about my old paper, the venerable Lac La Biche Post, and how its staff must be pushed to the limits there in the thick of it trying to cover this disaster and the human stories behind the evacuation and loss. I thought of the townspeople I came to regard with affection, and how awesome they would be at welcoming and caring for Fort Mac’s displaced citizens. I thought about how quickly that fire got out of hand, and how early our own forest fire season had started.
Then Saturday night, social media lit up with news of a small fire that had started south of Alice Lake just above the Rockridge subdivision at the end of Tantalus Road. That’s pretty much across the highway from where I live. I could see the smoke from my house. With everything happening in Alberta, I can tell you people around here were looking a wee bit nervous. But, of course, our own fire crews tackled the timber fire within a few hours, thankfully.
I’ve stood near smoking debris taking pictures of their efforts for this equally venerable paper, so I can attest to their heroism and determination. I also know that like what happened in Alberta, fires can sometimes get away from even the best fire crews.
So, let’s try to have their backs like they have ours.
If you smoke, don’t discard your butts carelessly out your car window or your roaches out on a trail. Watch your campfires (and any fire) and make sure there’s no fire ban; I’m betting on major bans this season. Keep your eyes open, and report suspicious smoke when you see it. Let’s work together to ensure we have an unremarkable fire season, because I’d be glad if I never again had to stand near flame-ravaged ruins, watching fire crews risk their lives.
