As much as we enjoy seeing tax dollars hard at work, we’re happiest when our firefighters get a breather.
Unfortunately, with the islands’ summer temperatures rising, we can dependably expect emergency calls to ramp up — and island fire crews know that from now until sustained rain returns, things on Salt Spring and every Gulf Island will only get drier.
In past years, we’ve often used this space to remind readers to keep wildfire danger in mind, hoping to head off some of the truly “preventable” fires and keep crews freed up for the ones we might never see coming. And between a growing adoption of FireSmart practices, near-universal compliance with summertime fire bans and a healthy dose of shared responsibility, we’ve happily seen many individual islanders step up to keep us all a little safer.
Indeed, regarding stacks of Scotch broom piled up for disposal at Community Gospel Chapel on May 24, Fulford Hall on May 31 and in anticipation of a final collection coming to the Salt Spring Elementary School bus loop on June 8, we applaud the local work done by Neighbours Feeding Neighbours — with support from local businesses and nonprofit groups alongside regional and provincial government funders.
But, as the seas of yellow streaking across so much public and private land on Salt Spring make clear, there is still much to do. And when those blossoms drop, and while the oil-filled plant also waits for the next rain, we live among widespread patches of dense, highly volatile fuel sources seemingly waiting just as eagerly for the next spark.
While a dent is certainly being made in the problem through voluntary compliance by engaged individuals, the public safety issue may have grown to require more regulation, perhaps as carrot (additional public funding to assist those willing to lend a hand) or stick (penalties for those who aren’t).
Whether you’ve been one for a day or for decades, there’s nothing more “islander” than just rolling up our sleeves and working to solve a problem. With a public safety hazard this extensive, we deserve help from government bodies in making that attitude catch and spread.