Back in 2013, some teenagers were setting off fireworks in the backyard of a local Maple Ridge home.
The fireworks caught that home on fire, and the flames spread to a neighbouring house.
Both were destroyed.
Despite the fact that both Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge have stringent regulations on the use and sale of fireworks, there have been problems with their use, especially around major holidays.
In some Lower Mainland communities, the pandemic seemed to spark a huge increase in the use of fireworks, with people heading to parks and vacant lots to set them off, especially around holidays like Canada Day, Halloween, and New Year’s Eve.
Our local firefighters don’t need this headache.
For those who haven’t noticed, it’s very dry out there. We haven’t had a significant amount of rain in weeks, and there’s very little precipitation in the forecast.
Every summer now tends towards the extremely dry, and our heat waves, with temperatures above 30°C, are also frequent.
That means that a stray firework, or a dropped cigarette, or a poorly thought-out backyard campfire cookout, can cause a serious problem.
Local firefighters and other first responders must already deal many serious issues.
There are medical calls, everything from heart attacks to kids who’ve fallen out of a tree and broken their arm. There are car crashes – more and more of them, too, as our population grows. There are actual fires, in houses, job sites, industrial operations, and in vehicles.
We’ve seen a number of fires this year that were uncomfortably close to large human populations, from the Fraser Valley right out to Horseshoe Bay on the North Shore.
READ ALSO: UZELMAN: B.C. forest practices fuel massive fires
Even more so than in most Lower Mainland communities, here in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, we live close to the woods. The forests come right down to the edge of our suburban and rural communities.
Even those of us who don’t live near the real wilderness are often close to regional and local parks, wooded acreages, and wide grassy areas.
A fire that got loose in a park or a rural area could threaten hundreds of homes, not to mention wildlife and farm animals. It could cut highways and make emergency response difficult. It could knock out power to large areas.
It could kill people, as we’ve seen around the world.
So everyone who is getting ready for the next round of midnight fireworks in a local park, or planning a big fire in the backyard, or just thinking about tossing a butt?
Cool it.