Yes, it is a total bummer.
We aren’t allowed to have campfires right now.
Why not? Because the whole Island is basically a box of dry kindling.
Even after we got some rain this weekend.
Dorthe Jakobsen is the Coastal Fire Centre information officer. She told My Comox Valley Now that some campers decided that fires were okay again after this weekend’s storms.
They are not.
The rain we got was helpful in a lot of ways. It sure felt nice! But the forest floor is still bone dry.
That means “no beach fires, no campfires, no Category 2 fires, no Category 3 fires,” she said.
There is only one big wildfire on the Island right now. However, the Cooper Canyon Fire, burning in the Cowichan Valley, is out of control. It started on August 5. As of August 9, 46 firefighters are battling the blaze. They’re using 3 helicopters, 4 water tenders, and a whole pile of heavy equipment.
If we want to keep fires in check this summer, we all need to suck it up and look at the stars instead of having a beach fire.
And if you think you’d be able to put out a fire yourself if a spark from your campfire jumped into the grass, just watch how fast a cigarette can start a grass fire:
To stay safe, we need to remember what Smokey Bear used to say, “only you can prevent forest fires .”
