Fire Prevention ⊂(•́(ｴ)•̀)⊃

Happy Monday!
Did you celebrate Summer Solstice this weekend?
Cause it’s safe to say, summer is here! And, you know what that means… swimming, fishing, hiking, camping, you name it. Days spent floating down the river, nights spent huddled around a fire, gazing up at a starry sky. Unfortunately the start of warmer weather also cues the start of forest fire season.

Here in BC, our Wildlife Management Branch has already spent $52 million of its $63 million dollar budget– and we haven’t even hit July yet! Most forest fires are caused by people, which means that they can be prevented by people too.

So while these may sound like common sense, it seems like they need to be repeated, for the sake of our forests!

• Never leave a fire unattended. Extinguish it completely before leaving your campsite, or going to bed (you’d be surprised how many people drift off to sleep before making sure their fire is out safely).
• If you’re going to have a fire, make sure you have sufficient amounts of water on hand in case it gets hard to manage
• When putting your fire out, flood it. Pour water on the fire and move around the ashes with a stick to make sure it’s 100% extinguished
• Use caution when handling flammable items around a fire (like kerosene or gasoline lamps, stoves, heaters, generators etc.).
• If you’re a smoker make sure your cigarette butts are COMPLETELY extinguished
  • Don’t discard your cigarettes or matches onto the ground or from moving vehicles
• Call 911 or contact your local fire department IF YOU NOTICE AN UNATTENDED FIRE

If for some unfortunate reason you find yourself caught in the midst of a forest fire:

• don’t try and outrun the fire
• search for a body of water (pond, river, lake, anything!) to lie in
• no water? Find a low lying, area with the least amount of foliage (aka fire fodder) and douse yourself with water if you’ve got it and cover yourself with soil
  • breathe air closest to the ground
  • through a moist cloth if possible (avoid that smoke inhalation)

Welp. Hopefully we never have to put that last bit of knowledge to use. Enjoy that summer weather, and remember…

Only you can prevent forest fires.
– Smokey Bear

(image: http://bit.ly/1LgKYxZ)