Editor's note: The Chief's weekly editorial represents the opinion of the newspaper.
It may be time we collectively become less “Hardwired for Adventure” in August in the Sea to Sky.
Two summers in a row, our provincial government has declared a state of emergency due to wildfires blazing across B.C.
As of this week, there are 550 active fires in the province, according to the BC Wildfire Service. These blazes are chasing people from their homes and, beyond our borders, wildfires have taken lives.
Squamish has been relatively lucky — so far.
Nonetheless, summer after summer in the corridor we have felt the impact of wildfires in the form of smoky skies and declining air quality — with it reaching above 10 on the Environment Canada Air Quality Health Index early this week. That means there is a very high risk for some people to exert themselves outside, the exact thing virtually every Squamite and tourist lives to do in the summer here.
Most experts seem to agree that due to global warming and insufficient controlled burns, wildfires are likely the “new normal” for the foreseeable future in B.C.
If that is the case, as the so-called recreation capital of the world, we perhaps need to consider rescheduling some of our more extreme activities to months when air quality is less likely to be an issue. It only makes sense both for participants and event organizers who spend countless hours preparing for their sporting showcase.
When the smoke is high risk, the events should be automatically cancelled, leaving no pressure or opportunity for the thrill-seeking athletes to push their bodies into a danger zone.
If these fiery Augusts continue, perhaps organizations that support and promote tourism, including the District, need a revised strategy for tourism during the haze.
Without a back up plan, the dollars brought by visitors could quickly go up in smoke, putting local businesses and our economy in jeopardy.
A vastly revamped Brennan Park rec centre could be just the thing to keep visiting families, climbers, campers, hikers and kiters happy until the smoke dissipates.
As individuals, we need to think differently about our activities in this smoky month.
Sarah B. Henderson, senior scientist, with the BC Centre for Disease Control noted to The Chief that spending time in the forest does somewhat protect people in that the particulate in the air from the fires spreads onto the forest canopy, leaving less of it to get into delicate human lungs.
She also recommends upping our water intake on smoke-filled days.
Most importantly, Henderson said, there should be no “smoke shaming,” where those who say they can’t keep up the pace in the smoke are belittled for putting their health first. Similarly there should be no reward those who “power through.”
And of course, don’t be stupid: no campfires, throwing cigarette butts, or other irresponsibility with fire.
After all, as we have seen in stories around the world, wildfires can be more than just an irritant; left unchecked they become a matter of life and death.
