To the editor:
I know everyone is frustrated and tired of the constant stress of this never ending fire season. There are many people on the ground and in the air trying to save as much property and lives as is humanly possible.
I take offence to Mr. Lamberton calling skilled and trained firefighters from around the world boy scouts at a jamboree. This is a total insult, they came here to help us, plain and simple they put their lives on the line for us every day. We should be thanking them instead of throwing false unknown information out as fact and not just his opinion. He states he has been around the forest industry for 30 years, he should know that when mother nature decides to do something, she will do it and there is not a damn thing we can do about it. Look at Texas, they knew the storm was coming but what do you do?
As for having loggers as initial attack people, how would that work? You just leave your job to go and fight a fire? What would the boss think?! That’s why there are people who do just that. The economy has to continue, everyone has a job to do, let them do it without negativity and trying to blame someone, it just is not so.
As for burning off of fuel to starve a fire before it does whatever it wants, that is what the goal is, to starve it. Do you think the wildlife would not be harmed if no one tried to stop the fire? Come on. I am pretty sure that if the government did nothing to try and stop the fire Mr. Lamberton would be on that too. It is a no win situation.
I firmly believe we have the right people on the ground and running the fire, many of them are loggers and equipment operators from the forest industry. It is a war; some battles are lost, that is a fact. What do you do with a front that is over 100 km long? Water will never extinguish it unless we get help from the weather. Mankind, sometimes with all of our technology, is completely helpless when nature decides it wants to go somewhere.
As for not bothering to monitor a situation, how do you come up with a plan of any sort without the best and latest information possible? Do you just decide to finish your coffee and go put the fire out! Well informed is well armed, that saying has been around for a long time. It really is true.
I do know a little about fires and forestry as I have worked in the forest industry for 32 years, in government, industry and as a contractor. Yes, sometimes wrong decisions are made, or plans do not work out as we would like them to. The Elephant Hill fire and the Gustafsen fire were actioned quickly. I watched when the fire in 100 Mile started. There was a response within 20 minutes, tankers were on it but the wind and dry conditions just would not co-operate, it got away, same as Elephant hill.
Watching the news tonight, I see Manitoba and Los Angeles share a common problem with us, uncontrollable fire. It is a fact that climate change is here and changing yearly for the worse for humankind, that is a fact. This is the worst and driest fire season ever, over two months without rain.
Can we face this new challenge? I don’t know, but I do know that negative opinion will not help. We have to remain positive and learn from each day.
Make sure you thank those firefighters from wherever they come from, they are not doing it for a merit badge.
George Ostoforoff
100 Mile House