How to Navigate Nature When The Wildfires Burn in Canada

As I type this, the acrid smell of smoke permeates the air. The lake is covered in an ethereal mist that hides the water beneath. When I opened my garage door, I thought there was an electrical fire nearby. I moved around the exterior of the house, and the scent would disappear and then resume. I couldn’t find the source.

Later, friends from cities to the south of me and family in New York called to find out how I was doing. They were getting the main brunt of the effects from the smoke as the wind seemed to have blown its most acrid fumes their way. Yes, I am one of those people who practise slow living without cable and with minimum digital connection. It is a way to allow the senses to concentrate on lived experience. It turns out the cities were getting the worst effects; even though I was geographically closer, the wind had my back.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

There are at least three hundred wildfires burning in the north western part of the Province where I live. I am doing fine, considering the devastation the fires are causing to those closer the burning forests. Nature has a way of reminding us of its true power, so while we debate climate change, geo-politics, and who is doing the worst damage to the planet, Mother Earth is showing the possibilities of a natural clean up.

Indigenous people from Australia to North America knew how to protect the land with controlled burn, where they would set small burns in areas that were ecologically vulnerable to large fires.

They also knew where to avoid placing settlements due to the unsuitability of the terrain. Today, many fires and floods occur in places that are not environmentally suitable for towns or subdivisions.

The Province of Ontario is almost as big as France. If my relatives in Brooklyn, New York, complain about the smoke from the Northern areas, then we have a problem. This area has a large indigenous population. They are being airlifted to safety, as their homes disappear in the flames.

Slow Burn

What is fire? A piece of the sun that is as useful as it is dangerous. Imagine that vast sphere, without which we have no life on this planet, it is a spark of that which is charging through our forests right now.

It is not a new phenomenon, but every year it seems to get worse. We have advisory boards that alert us to the level of danger. In the summer, camping and cottaging are very popular, and fire pits are generally part of the experience, but they are done with caution, if at all, this year.

Those with compromised respiratory systems are advised to remain indoors, while some wear masks and carry on. So while the smell of smoke fills our nostrils and we retreat indoors, it is a good time to reflect on how we got here. Is this a sign of the times or something natural intensified and hampered by human presence?

The animals left behind have to fend for themselves. The forests here are home to black bears, and the cubs are just learning to navigate their territory. Now they will learn to navigate fire.

Science says fire is combustion. The spiritual composition of fire is deeper; it is purification. It extinguishes everything, but it also prepares the way for new beginnings. In the middle of a wildfire, all philosophical considerations will go out the window, as this excerpt from journalist Jesse Winter’s book shows:

“Karl and other locals tried to fight the fire head on. For the first few days, it was madness, he said. Most had no idea what they were doing, and they made the kind of simple but dangerous mistakes people who’ve never fought a major wildfire before are likely to make: driving a convoy of pick-up trucks down a cattle trail into the fire without stopping to consider escape routes. Parking those trucks facing into the fire instead of out of it. “We did some stuff that was really, really dumb,” Lea said, looking back.” – Wildfire: Dispatches from a Country Ablaze – Jesse Winter

People who have lost everything in a wildfire say the most painful thing is the loss of memories, the family photos, and the items that record their rites of passage. They must start over with only their memories for reference. It is an end but also a beginning.

Here is a tip if you do live in a wildfire zone (also useful if you don’t). Place your most important documents in a fireproof box, you know, those ones that are an administrative pain to replace, especially when cross verification documents have also gone up in smoke.

Follow alerts, which may come through different sources in your area. When they say “Get Out,” take the path of least resistance; material things are not the priority.

Have you been in a wildfire, or are you affected by one? Let us know in the comments below.