Fire!!!

"Attention Attention...This is an emergency..."

Relax.

That is my son playing his new favorite game. Yep, you guessed it, "Emergency". His school did a lock down drill a couple of months ago. This sentence has been said around my house numerous times for the past month.

Its getting a little old.

You can imagine then, I was not terribly impressed with our city officials declaring a state of emergency.  This forest fire is the biggest story to hit my city in recent years.  I am a tad critical of how its been handled so far.

First off, though I want to thank the fire crews. My complaint is not with them. We are very lucky to have people willing to risk their lives for us and we owe them a debt of gratitude.

My complaint is about the local media and the flow of information.  Now I will stress that I am not a journalist nor did I go to journalism school--but I am married to someone who did.  I am wondering why I have to tune into Toronto media to find accurate reporting of our story.

I have a few thoughts for our mayor and local media personnel.

First off, you guys should know that the fastest way to spark panic in a community is to urge everyone to "Stay calm."  You cannot tell us that a "State of Emergency" has been declared but it is no cause for panic.  You especially should not say this on a day when the sky is orange and its raining ash.  Furthermore, when you live in a community where there is only one remaining hwy out of town that is not affected by the fire, urging people to stay calm pretty much guarantees mass panic.

Secondly, you tell us to tune into your websites and news casts for the latest and fact based information...which you only update at 8am, and 2pm.  You tell us not to believe "Joe Smith" on the street or facebook, but on one of the newspaper's website it was mistakenly posted that the fire was
much closer than it actually is. Perhaps you could check your facts and not print the very things you are telling us to ignore. Don't get me wrong, I am glad you are printing word for word the press release the MNR gives you. I am sure it takes a lot of work to come in on your weekend off and copy and paste an email you got to your website so thanks.

You will forgive me if I trust "Joe Smith" a little more than I trust you.

I am also wondering why I have to rely on Toronto media to tell me how big the fire is. I know, I know. The ministry of natural resources (MNR) reports that the fire is approx 40, 000 hectares. God forbid you should tell me how big that is in km (it is approx 80km long and 8km wide).  Sorry but a 80km fire burning 30km from my house is a little disconcerting. I also want to thank the Toronto media for telling me I should pack my bags just in case, cause that is not something I would hear from my own local news. 

Finally, I am resentful of the paternal, authoritarian approach to covering this story.  The local DJs are sarcastic when telling the public not to believe any rumors from people on the street. My own city website tells me that the fire is "Not a 50km inferno heading for the city" (Actually its 80km....) I especially don't appreciate being told "The more time we spend correcting wrong information the less time we have to get the right information out there"  True, I know it takes a long time to copy and paste a press release. Thanks for scolding me like a child, and making making me feel like I am over reacting in preparing to evacuate.

Perhaps you could use the time you have (since you only update fire situation at 8am and 2pm) to bring some analysis on the story.

Here are some suggestions for you (if any of you reading this know, please fill me in)

Tell me how fires are put out--what do the terms fire suppression, containment, mean in terms of forest fires?  What do the terms "Contained," "Being Held" "Under Control" and "Not Under Control" mean--I can of course guess at these terms, but it would be nice to have fact based information here.

How fast does fire travel?  This one apparently is moving 15-20 meters a minute--so is that 1km every 5 minutes?  So it could potentially reach the city in what--20min?  Could you perhaps post an updated map?  Again, I know that you have links on your websites to the MNR website where I can find out all of this information but it would be great if I didn't have to research the story--I thought that was your job. 

Perhaps you could go to the roadblock site (where all the other media is stationed) and interview someone involved with the fire? Like for example the MNR spokesperson? (If you are unsure of how to do that, ask the reporters from CBC cause they seem to know how to do it)

Time to put on your big boy underwear, local media. You are playing with the big boys now.

Guess I will keep checking Toronto stations and facebook for the latest updates.  Now where did I put Joe Smith's number....