One of the most powerful and disturbing images to appear online this past week was a photo of a Martin Mars water bomber parked near Port Alberni while a forest fire raged behind it on nearby Dog Mountain.
An air tanker that can cover 1.6 hectares in just one load drop, the Martin Mars water bomber has been out of service since 2013, when the provincial government decided there were better and more cost-effective ways to fight forest fires.
That didn’t fly with the public, but a petition last year on change.org that drew more than 19,000 signatures wasn’t enough change the government’s mind.
Now, with B.C. tinder dry and fires breaking out in every corner of the province, public anger has reached new heights and a second petition collected more than 21,000 signatures in five days.
Writing to Premier Christy Clark and other politicians, both provincial and federal, LucyAnne Steinhauer of West Sechelt called it a crime for the government to have equipment sitting dormant when it could significantly help our firefighters in their difficult and dangerous jobs.
“We should be ready for any eventuality, which takes long-term vision, not short-sighted program cuts,” Steinhauer wrote. “We don’t have control over all events, but we do have control over how prepared we are.”
One of the strongest critics of the provincial government’s performance has been shíshálh Nation Chief Calvin Craigan. Híwús was a good friend of John Phare, the Roberts Creek logger who died last Sunday in a tragic accident on the Sechelt fire ground. Talking to CBC this week, the chief pulled no punches, saying more effort by Clark’s government could have prevented the Sechelt fire from growing out of control.
Craigan has also been vocal on the Nation’s website (www.shishalh.com), tweeting Wednesday: “You have to ask yourself if the BC government has a list of priorities which you and I are not on.”
The combined pressure apparently paid off – because on the same day, the province announced it had reached a one-month agreement with the Martin Mars owners, the Coulson Group, to bring the water bombers out of retirement.
“Given the extraordinary fire situation this year, and recognizing that public safety is paramount, we need to look at every possible tool in our toolbox,” Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson said.
The only problem is, the fire situation has clearly been dangerous for months and the tool has been sitting unused in the toolbox all along.
There was simply no excuse for the province to wait this long to discover that public safety is indeed paramount.
