OMG Heat Wave?

[Ghostsof1915]

1 hour ago, ronthecivil said:

OMG Fires!

 

Just like the towns where houses flood away, we don't build them back, but instead build wider rivers basically (which can simply be parks like Riverside Park in Kamloops which is designed to hold the flood waters of the Thompson River when it wants to flood), we should do something similar to mitigate fire danger.

 

Towns that are in danger of being affected by forest fires (aka most in BC) should have (in addition to things like not having lots of combustible type materials in houses near the edge) fire breaks around them. This can take many forms. It can be well irrigated farms like vineyards and orchards, which so long as they are lush and well irrigated, should act as a break to the fire. Or it can be a green belt, that is either irrigated, or is made of creative non burnable materials (it can have sections of pickle ball courts lol). It can be walking paths. It can be ring roads. It can be rock gardens. And as a default it's (once again) parks, but this time, they are designed to not burn instead of flood. 

 

And let's do it right! Partner up with First Nations to get their input. Perhaps we go back to lighting some of these parks on fire in the spring and fall with First Nation participation, as they used to do before we foolishly stopped them. 

 

It doesn't need to be many kilometer wide desiccated scar. Which is what nature is giving us as the default option. So if we need to cut some trees down, spend some money, and put in irrigation to protect ourselves in the future, we just going to repeat the past.

 

I recommend Kelowna as a good place to do a test version.

That would mean planners would have to not look at the money from developers but actually be pro-active in fire defence.

 

[ronthecivil]

48 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

I hear people who use those courts are combustible.  Or is it incendiary?  Maybe they're just flesh-covered firebrands!  

What I am getting at is we can surround towns with non burnable things (perhaps it's a clay tennis court with metal fencing and so on) that can be considered community amenities if planned in the right way. Having these fire breaks won't mean the forest won't catch on fire, but it will definitely make a reduction in evacuations and damage to property. 

 

No amount of money is going to stop the forests from catching on fire. Pretty sure in BC, having seen the results of forest fires through the cycle (a couple years in with the fire weed is when they start looking nice again) that the forests catching on fire is part of the natural process in large parts of the province. Climate change likely doesn't help. So we can spend money fighting nature or we can adapt by having a way to separate ourselves from the fire.

[ronthecivil]

20 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

That would mean planners would have to not look at the money from developers but actually be pro-active in fire defence.

 

Well....

 

It would likely need support from the province to go in and buy up/expropriate land to make the barrier, though in some cases where say you have existing fire resistant properties on the edge, just making sure they STAY that way, as well as coming up with a plan to do it. And yes this will cost money, but how much are we spending fighting fires and rebuilding each year?

 

And yes, I am talking about the outer band of fire protection. There would be an inner band, where, should something try to jump the band, that your houses are made of brick and it's actually zoned as fire resistant.

 

And if a developer wants to sprawl out a new development on land that's on the edge of town? Sure! But you better make it as fire resistant development, and you better make sure the fire barrier (which can be community amenities for the new development, increasing it's value!) is part of the final development.

 

In fact, adding a bunch of new developments might be a great way to fund this idea. But yes, we should be proactive in fire defence, just like we should be proactive in flood defence.

Edited August 21, 2023 by ronthecivil
Engineers fail at spelling

[Citizen Erased]

On 8/15/2023 at 6:20 AM, Alflives said:

This is great hay makin’ weather. 

Ever since I’ve been the champ.

[brilac]

20 hours ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

where's the heat?

Yeah, where is the heat? !! Did you know that it was raining today? Like all day long! And still raining! 

 

Rain, rain rain! 

[brilac]

18 hours ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

We can definitely use the rain!

The rain can mess with me. I get headaches - especially when it is cold, cloudy, and rainy. 

[brilac]

Just now, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

I kind of know what you mean.  Some of my body parts are like a living barometer - they can sense when the weather is about to turn sour, giving me about a half-day to a day's advance notice through joint/muscle pain.

 

But the rain is definitely an important part of keeping the water cycle happy here.

Yes I agree with the water cycle being happy. But yesterday with the cold, cloudy, rainy weather was not so great.