Out of Control Page 60

1. What clues in the text indicate that it is as article from a magazine and not an excerpt from a text book? Magazine articles are often characterized by these features: Use of direct quotes Mention of the specific days the event took place—in this case, Thursday and Friday More of a story-telling tone to the information. For example, the article begins with a story about a specific person involved in the event. Not organized in the same way are as textbook information. Textbooks present a larger concept and break it down. This story looks first at the human side of forest fires in a specific town, then at the impact of the forest fires in the region, then at the danger for fire fighters, and finally at what the government has done in response.

2. What was it that initially attracted the Kotlers to their home that is now a danger too them? Were they prepared for that danger? How do we know? The stunning natural setting (para 1 line 1) No Mel Kotler quoted he was naive (para 1 line 15)

3. Describe the detrimental effects of this forest fire in terms of land burned, personal action required, and cost (in money and human lives) 825 fires burning (para 3 line 1) Greater than 170,000 hectares burned, or 420,000 acres (para 3 line 6) $156.7 million spent on fire suppression (para 3 line 12) 10,000 citizens evacuated (para 4 line 7) 3 pilots killed (para 5 line 1)

4. What are interface fires and why are they a threat in forested areas? Fires where human development is close to the natural forest (para 7 line 6) Decades of suppressing the natural cycle of fires add to to a ‘significant build up of forest fuels’ (para 7 line 20) They are a threat in forested areas because the presence of human communities leads to practices that suppress the natural cycle of fires and a dangerous buildup of forest fuels!

5. What does the author mean when he writes the woods are being ‘killed by kindness’? Building flammable little pieces of suburbia among the trees, logging provincial parks to remove dead and bug-infested trees, expanding precribed burns to clear forest underbrush – decades of suppressing the natural cycle of fires added to a significant buildup of forest fuels - all are controvertial (para 7 lines 12-24) We are doing more damage than good!

6. What has the province done recently to help fight forest fires in the future? Reinstituting such remedies as controlled burns (para 8 line 3) Created a special fire department (para 8 line 6)

7. According to Gary Barber, why do we hear more about the fires now than in the past? More homes near / in the forest now (para 8 line 12) Detrimental effects of fires more obvious now!