Living in a blue haze becomes traumatic; the comments I made came on the heels of a reoccurrence of smoke after a long summer with no respite from the constant irritation caused by it's presence. I understand the principles of forest management, and the dangers and methodology of fighting forest fires, and don't expect that firefighters show be sent into areas that may threaten their health and lives. I do wonder, however, why B.C. does not have a larger fleet of fire-fighting tankers, such as those used in the U.S., with large capacity like the MARS flying boats. Sending in smaller units does not seem to get the job done in many cases, as the incredible dryness of the land allows fires to spread at an incredible speed, and makes me wonder why the initial blazes are not hit with larger capacity planes to knock them down before the fires are completely out of control. 2018's large fire along the west side of Okanagon Lake reached incredible proportions after a very short time, and tied up a large percentage of the total resources available after a very short time, leaving little left to contain the Snowy mountain fire, or the fire in Manning Park. It took very little time for the Snowy Mountain fire to reach from a few miles south of Keremeos to the U.S. Border. After listening to interviews in 2017 about resources being outstripped by the fires in the Cache Creek area and northward to Williams Lake and beyond, I could not help wonder whether the B.C. Wildfire Management Services are being given enough funds to properly contain and shut down these larger blazes. A shortage of equipment and resources can be just as dangerous to fire fighting personnel, as being sent into areas that are difficult to reach, and that contain "vast, steep, densely forested areas". This makes me speculate if larger air assaults would make firefighting safer for the brave souls who have to slog it out on the ground putting out spot fires that escape any air assault conducted before ground crews are set in.
I am deeply grateful to those who are on the forefront of firefighting in B.C., and wish them to have the very best resources at their disposal to carry on what must be experienced as a thankless job, with many taking their dangerous work for granted. In rereading the comments I made I realized, however, came from an emotional backlash of the months spent in the haze, which at times with fires across the border from Midway B.C., made it hard to see more than a block away, and made me overjoyed to see our 2 retardent planes from Penticton come in to help the U.S. firefighters, who had fought on for a week against a large blaze with little more air support than a helicopter and a spotter plane until the Canadian planes and crews joined the frey. With our current rather warm winter just beginning I hope for a summer of increased precipitation, and a spring of steady, but non-torrential rains, to dampen the forests, but not create destructive flooding such as that which was endured by many local in the Grand Forks area, and many other communities in B.C.
P.S. Tristan, I have no living relative by the name of Ron, my "Swansons" were mainly "prairie people", although one uncle, Dale, long- departed, made it out to what was then Haney, to marry and procure a lovely acreage and live the rest of their lives in that area. His family continues living in that community.