Fireworks are illegal — for a good reason

This year could be a very dangerous year for fires. A couple of weeks ago, we had the misfortune of starting a fire in our yard, to which we had to call the fire department in order to put it out. If you read about it online in The Revelstoke Current you may have thought to yourself, that was stupid, who would have done that? Well, we all make mistakes and sometimes they have larger consequences than we would like. Thankfully, we were able to call the Revelstoke Fire Department and they were able to mitigate the results of my mistake.

The main purpose of this letter is to inform Revelstoke just how easily a fire can be started in the hope that we prevent other fires from happening.

I am aware of fire safety, I have read up on the subject and used to teach it to students many moons ago. We had a bucket of water and a garden hose standing by. Before lighting the firework (which we did not know were illegal in Revelstoke), I considered the fire risk and figured because of the 6 or 7 days of showers and that it was Spring, the fire risk would be minimal. I was wrong.

• The fire hazard is already very high and likely to get worse
• Protect your family, home and neighbours by reading up on FireSmarting your yard and implementing the recommendations now
• If you do have a fire, don’t hesitate, call 911 immediately. If you wait, it may be too late!

Thank you to the Revelstoke firemen and to your families whom you were pulled away from that Saturday evening.

Mike Vopni
Revelstoke