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We had our critics

Woman and man smile at each other. She is balancing a sign that says, “Thank you firefighters.”

Feature photo:
Fimmy and Ed Ganshorn of Gleneden thought a sign was the least they could do to thank the firefighters for the efforts they put in. Their home was on the road leading to the former site of the base camp.

Photo credit:
James Murray, Salmon Arm Observer, c. 1998

We had our critics and our supporters. Fimmy and Ed Ganshorn had their sign up thanking the firefighters before the blowup that took out homes and covered both sides of the valley. Days later one member of our team went to the door and asked if Fimmy still felt the same. She did.

Woman and man stand behind a homemade sign that thanks the firefighters.

“It’s easy to be critical,” said Fimmy Ganshorn. “Thank you is a simple word.”

Another lady at a public meeting just ripped in to us. She spoke for about five minutes and then stopped and said, “You know I feel better!” The venting helped lift her stress.

Part of the problem is we have a 98% success rate with fires so people expect that every fire can be controlled. As the fires of 2003 and the Rock Creek Fire of 2015 show, when Mother Nature gets the bit in her teeth, all you can really do is get people out of the way until she decides to stop. One thousand more firefighters or one hundred more aircraft will not make a difference. As tragic as 1998 was, there was no one seriously injured or worse.

My personal test is always when I’m shaving I stand in front of the mirror and as I look myself in the eye, I ask, “Did we do everything we could have yesterday?” If the answer is yes then I can live with any criticism.

Roy Benson
Fire Boss