Anyone who has read the newspapers or watched TV over the past few weeks has seen one disaster follow another. Earthquakes in Turkey, Greece and Taiwan were followed by massive loss of life - many of which were a result of fires started by the earthquakes.

These fires are basically acts of God and there is nothing man can do to prevent them. On other fronts, strife in East Timor is being followed by fires started by militia and government troops as they evacuate areas of the country. All this because the voters made the wrong decision. The difference between these fires is the latter are caused by man.

How lucky we are to live in an area of the world where earthquakes and hurricanes are not the norm, the decisions of voters are accepted as the way to make change, and the rights of others are respected. However, we are not without our problems and these problems can lead to personal disasters.

We are all aware of the farm crisis, the low price of grain and the high cost of inputs, the late planting (if the crop got planted at all) due to a wet spring, early frost and rain affecting the quality of the crops. What else can go wrong?

Well! I don't know if there is a farmer alive who will not try to get his crop off no matter what grade it is or how low the price is or how tough it is - they are going to try to put the crop in the bin. Unfortunately, as the harvest season gets later and later, the farmers are hurrying, working longer hours, not taking as much time for equipment maintenance, not paying full attention to what they are doing and generally setting themselves up for an accident. As the season gets later, we see more fires as the farmers work harder to get their crops in the bin.

This is no different than any other person who is under pressure to get a job done. The difference is they must live a whole year on what they harvest and what they harvest will affect the entire community for the entire year. Farming is too important to the communities around Weyburn to be ignored.

We should all be hoping the farmers slow down a little and think about safety in their operations. A little caution will help ensure the crop comes off without a major fire in our rural areas.

The past year has seen a reduction in the number of fires and the fire losses in Weyburn and district. Let us hope this continues through the next year. Shortly we will be starting our school programs. It is important that you listen to your children when they come home and ask about the smoke detector or the fire escape plan.

Every home should have a plan of what to do in the event of a fire. Once again this year our Fire Prevention Week theme is "Fire Drills: The Great Escape."

We have fire drills in our schools on a regular basis, but the home, where most fire deaths occur, is regularly forgotten. Please take the time to hold a home fire drill with your whole family some time this week.