Forest fires are no joke.
The other day I discovered how flammable dry pine needles are when I was hiking through a forest with my friend and we saw 20ft+ flames a few hundred feet away…
A river was nearby and there were some buckets at a camp site so I went into hero mode once seeing the fire and sprinted to get the pails…
Then my friend and I started working together to run water to the fire.
My friend does not have the best cardio so he worked on getting the water from the river into the pails…
And I thought about how glad I am to have been doing farmers walks at the gym for years as I delivered pail after pail of water on the flames until the fire was out.
The fire completely melted a plastic chair but luckily did not spread to any trees and the brutal damage it could have caused was contained…
Amazingly that is not the end of the story…
As we hiked out of the forest about 10 minutes away we stumbled on yet another forest fire!
This one bigger than the first.
In fact it was a ring of fire spreading out in all directions a few hundred feet wide.
It looked very similar to this image.
I saw someone nearby on a one wheel electric vehicle who I accused of arson (he denied) then told him to call the fire department…
Then I sprinted back to the original site to get the pails I used to put out the first fire.
When I returned by-law was there and the supervisor recommended I do not put out the fire!?
If he reads this I want him to know I was not serious when I told him to sue me.
I was too focused on resolving the situation to listen to fully listen to the nonsense he was speaking.
At this point my friend left and I got covered in mud jumping into the river to fill up the buckets…
(I think being aversive to fire is a natural impulse, however I grew up not far from my Uncle [Dave] who was a Volunteer Fire Fighter for 30 years. Fire causes me little fear).
I was with my friend the entire hike so I am certain he did not start the fire…
Then I proceeded to throw water on the fire until the Fire Fighters arrived.
So I guess I’m an honorary Forest Fire Fighter.
Today is Memorial Day in the United States.
Elon Musk (who is also a Canadian) tweeted “For those who died for our freedom.”
We should remember many Fire Fighters, Officers, Paramedics and other first responders have died for our freedom also…
Let’s pay respect to everyone who chooses to be brave to make a better world for us all.
Much love,