An ounce of prevention

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 
Looking at the satellite pictures of Fort McMurray is a glaring example of what can happen when fire prevention is on a collision course with the planning department and the developers.
 
Fort McMurray is sitting on flat land surrounded with relatively small trees and brush. It would have cost relatively little money to have prepared a few hundred foot wide green belt around the city, to help keep those fires out of town.
 
It’s also very evident what can happen when tall wood structures are built too close together. They build them everywhere. It’s called ‘densification’. City planners and developers love it. It puts more money in the pockets of developers, and the city collects more taxes per square foot developed.
 
The 2011 wildfire destroyed about one third of Lesser Slave Lake in Alberta.
 
The Okanagan Mountain Park Fire devastated the city of Kelowna in 2003.
 
Are we learning anything from these fires?

Andy Thomsen