Bert----If you build near water, you risk floods. If you build in prairie, you risk tornadoes. Near cliffs (above or below)---avalanches or mud slides. Other places....earthquakes.   Pollution (leading to asthma or bronchial infections).

I think it's easy to step outside the forest and see only the trees.   Everything in life is a cost/benefit and we can never predict any of them with any certainty.

So I choose not to judge in most instances.

That being said, Grand Forks, Oliver, and even Kelowna are being threatened with fire behaviour (the latter more related to ashes). And all of us are very affected by the bad air from the fires.   And areas near Oliver and Grand Forks have evacuation alerts.

So it is a scary situation.

Fortunately, they are forecasted rain and cooler weather for the weekend.   We hope that this will change the situation significantly for the better.

We live in a little rented four plex in the middle of Penticton right below an embankment that has lots of trees.   The back is beautiful trees and forest. The front is downtown Penticton.   We always had more cause to fer the latter than the former.   BUt if somebody above us happens to throw out a lighted cigarette---we could be in big trouble.

Fortunatey right now we're confident we'll survive the next couple days, then maybe the rain and cooler weather will lower the risk.