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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

This week I came into the week with a solid plan about what I needed to do and when I needed to do it throughout the week. Getting the spring edition of Peach Living sent to press, organizing Alabama Press Association entries and the weekly newspaper grind were all laid out for the week, that was until Monday when I drove into Chilton County and a dense haze of smoke was everywhere.

As I researched online and looked into things, it became clear that a number of people in the county did not take the burn restrictions seriously. With high winds, dry conditions and low relative humidity all coming together, earlier this week was the worst time to burn trash, land or anything. You would think people would have a standard level of common sense that wind would blow flames around uncontrollably. I promise you, no matter how long you, your father, your father’s father or anyone has burned things, you are no match for mother nature.

The most frustrating thing when it comes to the wildfires earlier this week is that it is not like wildfires have not been at the front of media coverage the last few months. Thousands of acres and structures were burned in Los Angeles, California and it was made clear in many articles and news programs about what to consider before burning anything. However, it seems it goes in one ear and out the other for some. You even had the Alabama Forestry Commission not issuing burn permits for days due to the conditions. If you are going to burn, that should be one of the first things that are checked.

When it comes down to it, it was foolish to have over 10 different wildfires break out across Chilton County when it could have been avoided. Yes, there may be some outlying circumstances where careless burning was not the main accelerant in the fire, but I am willing to bet 85-90% of them were. Thankfully, we got some much-needed rain and it helped put out any remaining hot spots anywhere. In the future, I reiterate the words of so many fire and volunteer fire departments in Chilton County who have plastered it across social media this week — “Know before you burn.”

Because only you…