Considering wildfires

Over recent weeks Oklahoma has been afflicted by wildfires. I’m told that many owe their ignition to downed power lines. Authorities speak of causes associated with people. In these times when there is considerable discussion of “artificial intelligence” these causes sound a lot more like “natural stupidity”.

I have read accounts written by Spanish and French explorers and other early European settlers in our area. Many encountered wild prairie fires and were impressed by the colors the wildfires reflected in the night sky. They further noted the sounds and sensations of the eerie night winds. It seems some natural phenomenon never really change.

Tragedy makes good television. So, our recent wildfires filled our television screens. I admit I found some of the powerful and fluid images captured in brilliant reds and oranges as mesmerizing as those early prairie adventurers had.

I recall, as a boy, springtime drives through the Canadian River bottoms with my uncle and aunt. Uncle would have heard of a grass fire. After they closed the Stigler 5 & Up they would pick me up and we would drive until we smelled the grass fire. Uncle would explain to me why setting the fires benefited the farmers and the ranchers. Now that I think about it, I believe Haskell County in the early 1940’s was mostly farmers. It seems there was talk questioning the viability of ranches.

When you have a prime seat in your dad’s shop door next to the back entrance of Zenus Garland’s domino hall or a seat in the press room of the Haskell County Tribune or sat on the mezzanine staircase that led to my grandfather’s office in Hays and Buchanan or a box in stock room of the Stigler 5 & Up, you heard the Stigler gossip and soaked in the wide world of local knowledge. Now that I think about it there were very few stores that I didn’t feel I could go in and visit a bit. I wonder now why these men and women were kind enough to allow a boy to sit on boxes in their storerooms and simply listen. As I think about it today, I’m most grateful they did.

Television and tragedy. The beauty associated with prairie wildfires has passed. Reports of the strength and determination of the firefighters gives way to exhaustion, an exhaustion no face can hide. Heroism is revealed and recounted.

Now, the destructive wrath of wildfire reveals itself. A coat of black and dank heavy gray paints the landscape. People return to the places in which they had constructed lives. They tell their stories. They shed their tears. Physical reconstruction will take years. Emotional reconstruction will take longer, if ever.

We express our empathy.

Catch on fire and people will come for miles to see you burn. – John Wesley

Hal McBride writes a column, Just Thinkin’, published each week.