LYTTON, R.I.P.

 

Lytton Then and now
photo by Lytton Fire Department

"We're the canary in the cage,"
he said.

"It is coming for us all."

He fled the burning town through flames,

running for his life. Now he owns

his vehicle, his t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

The wildfires ate his town.

Some people are unaccounted for.

I think of the wildlife trapped in the flames,

the burning, the pain, the terror;

the heat waves still to come,

the other towns at risk
through the long summer,

the planet heating more each year

until we all are fried,

while legislators talk in circles

and the status remains quo.

"We're the canary in the cage,"
he said.

"It's coming for us all."

The town of Lytton, B.C. burned down night before last after the heat wave B.C. experienced last week. There are 230 active wildfires still burning, some towns on evacuation alert. Lightning strikes overnight have helped to spread the conflagration. 23 fires span more than ten hectares; ten are bigger than a thousand hectares. This means even less trees to counter the rising temperatures. Even replanting now wont help us. They MUST NOT cut down what forest remains. I will continue my letter writing campaign to elected officials. How can they not connect the dots? Gah.