Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
I would like to change that definition to include doing something and thinking the results, rules, or whatever don’t apply to you.
Over the last few weeks the number of callouts the Barrhead Fire Department has received for grass fires has amazed me.
A few weeks ago the department instituted a limited fire ban, one where every fire except warming and cooking fires were prohibited. Soon after they instituted an all out fire ban, outlawing all fires in the town and county.
At almost the same time the province also initiated a province-wide fire and off highway vehicle (OHV) ban. Both of the provincial bans have been amended to cover northern and central Alberta.
After the ban one would have thought the number of outside fires would have come to a halt, or at least seen a sharp decrease.
Yet the fire department is busy as ever.
The question is why? Outside fires, as a general rule, are caused by two factors - natural causes, i.e. lightning strikes, or humans.
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen or heard a lot of evidence of lightning, which means the large percentage of these fires are manmade. True, a small minority of these fires are caused by unforeseen accidents. A motor vehicle accident, a piece of equipment that, even though it has been inspected and certified to be in good working order, fails, but the vast majority are because people believe the rules do not apply to them, or that even though they know what they are doing is wrong and potentially dangerous nothing bad will happen to them.
It is the same mentality Barrhead Cares and the P.A.R.T.Y. Program are trying to combat in our youth.
The problem is that the majority of people who are deciding to use their fire pit, burning barrel and the like are people who should know better.
I was talking to our fire chief, John Whittaker at the scene of a recent grass fire and he mentioned how many times he had to talk to grown adults who have decided to take ignore the fire ban, and therefore risk the safety of not only themselves, but of the community.
It is selfish and irresponsible, especially considering what we have all witnessed in Fort McMurray. While it is not known if the cause of that fire was human, the possibility is there. I know during my time in the Okanagan, there were multiple forest fires caused by people who thought the rules didn’t apply to them. They do. So please obey fire bans. Decisions have consequences and just because we have been relatively lucky so far doesn’t mean we will be in the future.
