Climate doesn’t cause fires

Dear Editor:

With the approach of summer, the media and climate alarmists are again warning of wildfires due to climate change.

Wildfires are a concern, but climate doesn’t cause fires. According to the B.C. government, 60% of fires are caused by lightning strikes and the remaining 40% by human activity. Conditions of dryness, heat and wind can aggravate the extent of wildfires, but aren’t a cause, as climate activists choose to claim.

Justin Trudeau attended the Glasgow Climate Conference where he attributed the Lytton fire in 2021 to climate change, but who can believe someone who is regularly caught with his pants on fire? The cause of the Lytton fire is unknown. Investigations determined that it was likely sparks from a train or unknown human activity.

Contrary to popular belief, the number of wildfires in Canada, as reflected in the National Forestry Database, has progressively declined from 1990 through 2021. Peak fire years during this period were 1991, 1992, 1998, 2006, 2012, and 2018. The worst was 1998 with 10,768 wildfires. There were 6,596 fires in 2021, the year of Lytton and the B.C. heat dome.

We can’t do much about lightningcaused fires, other than planned burning to remove excess fuel from the forests, so attention should be directed to areas where people can make a difference.

Public awareness campaigns are good, but we need to bring back Smokey the Bear. A few years ago “Smokey” was dumped and replaced by “Ember the Firesmart Fox”, who is seldom seen or heard. Nothing can match Smokey’s stentorian warnings that “Only you can prevent forest fires”.

That bear meant business.

Every year we see homes devastated by fire because they are built where they shouldn’t be. Housing encroachment into fuel rich fire zones is a bad idea. This should either be stopped or sufficient land cleared to provide effective fire barriers.

It makes little sense to rebuild in places bitten by fire, and insurance costs are becoming prohibitive to the point where American insurance companies are declining coverage in fire prone areas. Increased insurance costs are stratified into everyone’s premiums. The taxpayer shouldn’t be expected to compensate for this with payouts for losses which are largely avoidable by selection of safer building sites.

And please, no matter what politicians and activists may claim, there’s no evidence that wildfires can be reduced by paying carbon taxes to the government. John Thompson

Kaleden