Awakened
Awakened - One woman’s harrowing escape from a wildfire that changed her life and perspective on climate change.?
Struggling to see, Elena focused on the white line that ran down the center of the road, following it as if it were her north star. Her eyes burned, and she struggled to breathe. Black ash and embers fell from the sky. Wheezing and short of breath, she felt as if she were suffocating. The flames from the fire surrounded her on either side of the road, and the heat was unbearable. Soot-streaked sweat rolled down her brow and into her eyes. She struggled to see but forged ahead down the pitch-black road, holding her daughter tightly to her chest, shielding her from the flames. Her only focus was to get Isabella to safety. Suddenly, a panic fell over Elena. She realized Isabella had stopped crying. She worried if she was holding her too tightly or if the smoke and heat had overcome her. Without stopping, Elena glanced down and lifted the blanket from over Isabella’s face. She could see her little eyes fluttering and her brow wrinkling as the ash fell to her face. A fleeting sense of relief fell over Elena, thankful her daughter was ok, at least for now. ?
The winds began to pick up again, forcing the fire closer. The flames licked at Elena from all directions as if they were alive and trying to devour her, but she pushed forward, running as fast as she could. She could hear the roar of the fire, timber cracking, and trees crashing to the ground. Hot embers floated down from the canopy, burning her bare arms. Suddenly, a wall of flames blocked Elena’s path, stopping her in her tracks. The smoke was so thick now that she couldn’t tell which direction to run. She bent down closer to the ground, trying to find visibility under the smoke, looking for a way out. Elena honed in on what appeared to be a small opening between the flames. She rose and ran in its direction. She gasped and coughed, each breath becoming more difficult. Elena was beyond exhaustion. She fell to her knees, feeling defeated, and sobbed uncontrollably.?
Then, in the distance, Elena heard a different sound. It wasn’t falling trees; it was a rumble and clattering. It was coming closer. She lifted her head and saw what appeared to be two hazy lights in the distance moving toward her. Elena jumped to her feet and ran in the direction of the lights. As she got closer, she could see it was a pickup truck. It was slowing down and stopping on the side of the road. She screamed out for help. She saw a figure step out of the truck. She yelled again and waved. She could see a man motioning for her to keep running toward him. When she reached the truck, the man extended his arm and put it around her shoulder. He guided her to the passenger side, helping her in and quickly closing the door behind her. Elena could see the flames drawing closer to the truck. The man ran to the other side and jumped into the driver’s seat, and they sped off into the dark, racing to leave the fire far behind them.?
Still clutching Isabella, Elena looked down at her daughter and lifted the blanket away. She was covered in ash, but she was ok. As they hurdled down the road, Elena glanced back through the rear window of the pickup truck. The fire lit the nighttime sky in brilliant shades of orange, outlining the forest trees. A slight sense of relief fell over her as they gained distance between them and the fire. Elena’s sense of relief dissipated as quickly as it appeared, and anger began to stir inside her as she thought back to the previous afternoon. She recalled the local news report about a wildfire that had started in a neighboring town that was believed to have been caused by a campfire. ?
She remembered how angry she felt then, wondering who could be so careless as to let a campfire burn out of control. It’s summer, after all, and they were in the throes of a severe drought that caused acres of fields and wooded areas to dry out. Officials had repeatedly warned that even a tiny lightning strike could ignite a fire, and the dry landscape would become fuel for any fire causing it to spread rapidly. The conditions were so bad that a burn ban had been implemented just weeks ago, prohibiting anyone from burning grass, crops, leaves, or debris, having campfires, and using fireworks.?
Her blood boiled as she thought of how a single person’s selfish act and unwillingness to adhere to the ban led to the destruction of countless homes and the devastation of the lives of hundreds of people. But Elena realized the blame extended much further than one person’s carelessness. The droughts and record-high temperatures that contributed to the desiccation of grasslands, woods, and pastures were also to blame. If everything hadn’t been so hot and dry, the fire would not have had as much fuel, and perhaps it could have been contained before such terrible damage had been done. This was a much bigger issue than a single person’s negligence.?
Elena could feel her body tense as anger, frustration, and helplessness grew inside her. She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes – in an attempt to keep herself from tearing up. Surely someone could have done something to ease the droughts and dying landscape. It isn’t as if these phenomena were new; the lack of rain and rising temperatures had worsened over the past several years. She scoured every corner of her mind searching for answers, asking herself, “Who hadn’t done their job, “Who ignored the signs,” “What led to the gathering of all these elements that created this perfect storm of a catastrophe?”
Suddenly, Elena recalled a news report from several months ago that the state had decided to forego their controlled burns for the sixth year in a row, which would have helped keep vegetation under control and prevent wildfires from spreading as quickly. “It was the politicians,” she thought. It was their fault. Once again, it came down to politics and money. If those prescribed burns had been implemented, thousands of acres of land and wildlife could have been saved. “Oh, God,” Elena thought, “I’m starting to sound like some tree-hugger ranting about climate change, doomsday, and saving the planet.”
Though she certainly never considered herself to be an environmental activist or one of those people that proclaimed climate change was the cause for all these things. Still, she recognized that the weather had worsened during her lifetime, temperatures had risen, droughts had become more frequent, and extreme storms had caused severe flooding. She knew people who had lost their homes to floods and landslides and had even witnessed her uncle and many other farmers lose their farms and livelihoods because their crops suffered from storms and drought damage year after year. It all seemed to line up. The fact was that the climate had been changing and getting worse for years. She’d seen it for herself. She couldn’t help wondering why she was just now realizing that this was the reality of the world when it had all been right there in front of her for so long.
Maybe it was because she didn’t pay attention. Maybe it was because she just chose to ignore it. Maybe it was because most people in her life didn’t even believe that climate change was real, arguing that the idea of humans being the cause was just a conspiracy and that the climate had always changed for billions of years. But she was a logical person. She never went along with the crowd or trusted what other people told her at face value. So why hadn’t she bothered to get the facts for herself? If she had, maybe she would have spoken up or done something to change things.?
At that moment, Elena she had awakened to a new mindset. She knew that regardless of the cause, natural, human-induced, or both, climate change was real, and it didn’t matter if people believed in it or whether they could agree on who was to blame; all that mattered was that something had to change.
Her dismissal of the subject was no longer acceptable. She couldn’t just sit by and hope someone else would step up to fix things. At that moment, Elena promised herself that she would educate herself. Get the facts, learn whatever she could, and commit to finding ways that she could help stop the Earth from spiraling out of control. This was too big of an issue, and her daughter’s future depended on it. Elena had even sworn on the day she was born that she would do everything in her power to make sure Isabella had the best possible life. She certainly never wanted to have to explain to Isabella one day how the Earth had become such a disaster and why she had not done anything to fix it. Elena wanted her daughter to look back one day and be proud of her mother, knowing that she had fought for their future and the planet’s health.?
Elena’s mind returned to the present as the truck eased right, pulling into a large parking lot. She was astounded by what she saw. Dozens of volunteers were caring for those arriving and who had escaped the fire. They were offering water, medical care, and shelter. The kindness of these people overwhelmed her. This was the kind of love and care people should give one another. This was the kind of person she wanted to be - focused on giving rather than taking. She thought, “If only everyone in the world were as compassionate, giving, and selfless as these people, imagine what could be accomplished.”?
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Though Elena knew she would never see her home again and their lives would be changed forever, there was no time for sadness, anger, or blame. Only action. She would forge onward and build a new life and stand by her commitment to work to make the world a healthier and happier place for everyone.
Elena’s story could be your story or mine.?
Wildfires can occur anywhere and are increasing in numbers and intensity across the globe year after year. This year alone, Canada’s wildfire season has been its worst on record, and as of this writing (6/27/23), more than 7.2 million hectares (17.8 million acres) of land has burned, which is higher than the 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2022 seasons combined. Homes and lives have been lost, and with warmer and drier months still to come, the forecast for Canada looks ominous.
Our neighbors in the north are only one of many countries with active wildfire hot spots on the planet. As of June 27, 2023, the United States has battled 22,277 fires, affecting 640,741 acres (see daily updates at the National Interagency Fire Center). One in six Americans live in areas at high risk of wildfires. Think about that for a?moment. Picture yourself and 5 of your closest friends or family members; statistically, one of you could experience a wildfire nightmare like Elena’s. That is undoubtedly an unsettling feeling.?
While most fires start due to human activity, the fact remains that droughts and extreme heat waves are causing vegetation to dry out, contributing to the growth and spread of these fires. These droughts and high temperatures are, in fact, due to climate change. Though many people still do not believe climate change “is real,” The Earth’s climate has changed throughout its history, and the current warming is happening at a rate not seen in the past 10,000 years. Take a look at NASA’s evidence. The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and other human activities.4?Most of the warming has occurred in the past 40 years, with the seven most recent years being the warmest.
As temperatures continue to rise, so do the number of wildfires across the globe; we are losing valuable forests, agricultural land, wildlife habitats, and entire cities. People are losing homes, loved ones, and livelihoods at a rate threatening our health, way of life, and future.?
But fires are only one of the catastrophic factors associated with climate change. Extreme weather events, the disappearance of water sources, and flooding are just a few of the other elements that negatively affect all life and ecosystems.
We should all be concerned. Because, at some point, each of us will be directly impacted by a climate change-related catastrophe in some way, not in 20 or 30 years from now, but in the next 5-7 years. Just 2 degrees of warming will increase climate-related risks to human health, food security, human security, water supply, and even the economy, and from there, it only worsens.?
As a species, we must find ways to unite and work together to reverse climate change, lower the planet’s temperatures, conserve water, reduce emissions, draw down carbon, and find clean energy sources. There are ways we can do this, but we must do it together.?
Regardless of your cultural beliefs, race, social status, political alignments, or any other label or boundary humans have created that divides us, climate change is one thing that should unite us as a species. Human beings are a part of the global ecosystem. We’re a large part of the problem and must be a large part of the solution.?
Reach out to your friends, family, and neighbors. Start a conversation. Respect your brothers and sisters, be open-minded, listen, share, and discuss the facts. Surely, we can find common ground, unite, and act to protect our land, people, wildlife, planet, and way of future.