Burn off or another scary fire?

In the last few days there has been a pall of smoke which has hung over the southern side of Canberra due no doubt to protective burn offs undertaken under the auspices of the local authorities. The smoke haze was so bad the other day that while taking my morning constitutional all of my clothes were impregnated with the wood fire smoke and needed to be washed thoroughly to get rid of the impregnated smoke particles.

Now if that was happening to my clothes then I wonder what was happening to my lungs and furthermore I wonder what was happening to the ability to breathe for all of those people who have conditions like asthma?

Why is there never a warning from the authorities when these major burn offs occur? Why can people not be advised in advance that there is a danger of smoke haze so that people with respiratory illnesses can take precautions?

These and many other questions need to be asked of the Chief Minister and the group of people who are responsible for the governance of the ACT.

Many people were no doubt traumatised by the events of the bushfires several years ago when people were killed and hundreds of homes destroyed. For someone in this situation to see a huge cloud of smoke on the horizon or a complete smoke haze blocking the sun as they left work in the afternoon the events of that time would have come back in a rush and caused anxiety if not a renewed sense of terror until their other senses could evaluate the threat and come to the conclusion that it was not a major fire but just a necessary preventative burn off.

Let's not add insult to injury in future. If there is to be a major burn off around our community let's hear about it on the news and let's have warnings to those people who may be negatively affected.