Fire Weather

Barbara E. Hunt

Firsthand knowledge
embracing uncertainty

means living to tweak one 
tiny thing then measuring 

the change. Is this what you’ve
been looking for? Like mapping 

survival in a new world—
with flood and fire, wind 

and heat. Inside out and 
outside in. Like listening to 

your own voice reverberate 
from the future. The body hinting 

at directions like squinting for 
the center-line when driving in a fog. 

Eyes blinkered by status quo. How 
then white-hot as 21st Century 

fire— such a different 
creature than we ever 

knew. You want 
to get it right.

The Science

The term ‘fire weather’, or red flag warnings that were recently evident in California, refers to the dangerous combination of dry fuels (either forests or extremely combustible traditional building materials) with the volatility of weather (i.e. lack of rain or extreme heat, bringing moisture content down to zero). Humankind continues a status-quo lifestyle while the science of fire’s ignition followed by intensified burns has drastically changed—literally vaporizing materials and creating storms overhead. 

For further information, Canadian science-author John Vaillant explored this increasing phenomenon in his 2023 book Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World to forewarn us all of the changing nature of fire on this planet. The author was interviewed on PBS’s Amanpour and Company in November 2024.

The Poet

Barbara E. Hunt (she/her) has publications across North America, U.K., Netherlands, Scandinavia, Australia, Germany and a resulting Pushcart Prize nomination from Swedish publication. Work is accessible (free) on WATTPAD. Her climate-change collection is Rowing Across the North Atlantic (available at writersplayground.ca).

Next poem: Grief moves like a glacier by Karen Macfarlane