As you read this editorial with your morning cup of coffee on Aug. 2, we will be into 34 days with little or no rain on the South Coast.
The month of July has been simply gorgeous and has allowed all of us to enjoy the great outdoors with our family and friends, be it at the beach, lake or cottage or enjoying the fun events that the Coast has offered up including Sea Cavalcade and the Davis Bay sandcastle competition.
But beneath all that summer euphoria lies a silent but deadly monster just waiting for the perfect spark to unleash its fury -a forest fire.
The fire danger rating is high on the Sunshine Coast, and that will likely increase to extreme if this hot, dry weather continues.
The forest floor is tinder dry. Grass is high and dry in many areas - a prime recipe for a major interface blaze.
It behooves all of us to heed some simple common sense when we are out enjoying the weather. So far we have been pretty lucky with a couple of close calls.
On Sunday night, right after the fireworks wrapped up in Gibsons Harbour closing out Sea Cavalcade, the Gibsons fire department was called to a vehicle fire just north of Armours Beach in the 700 block of Marine Drive in Gibsons.
It seems some vandals decided it would be a good idea to torch a Toyota truck parked in the driveway to the Chekwelp Indian Reserve just off Marine Drive in an area surrounded by dry grass and trees.
Luckily our volunteer firefighters arrived quickly and were able to douse the flames before more damage could be done. But as the grass and trees were scorched, the fire had the potential to be catastrophic. What if the fire department didn't get there in time and the fire spread to the trees and nearby homes? Who knows what could have happened?
On more than one occasion in the past few weeks, we have seen careless smokers pitch their cigarette butts out their windows while driving along Highway 101. Guess what happens if those lit butts hit the grass or bark mulch? - a huge fire could be mere minutes away.
Beach fires are also an issue. According to the Gibsons fire department, there are no beach fires allowed within the Town of Gibsons including Armors Beach, Georgia Beach, Pebbles Beach and Franklin Beach. Beach fires are allowed within regional district areas, but must be below the high tide line, kept to .5m by .5m and extinguished before leaving the beach, and we emphasize extinguished - fully - as one smoldering ember could spell disaster.
So bask in the sunshine and great weather. Just remember to use some common sense and be fire aware.
