When Distant Flames Ignite: Taking Problems into Our Own Hands

Earlier today something caught my attention. The landscape (which I never get tired of) was a bit different.

I saw smoke coming out of the woods in the distant mountains. There was clearly a fire taking place.

My first thought was: "I don't think this is really an issue. Otherwise, someone would be already looking into it."

A couple of moments later, a second thought: "I hope that doesn't spread to that entire forest."

At that point, I was almost used to the idea of watching at a distance how much the fire would spread, from the comfort of my home.

Maybe you've been to that place, in which you identify something that may need to be addressed and figure that someone else should be already looking into it.

This kind of underlying thought can happen quite often in one's life and professional career: "This is not really my issue."

As an exercise, I like to tackle things differently and base my premises in that "if it caught my attention, there's something for me to do there".

So what I decided to do was call the local firefighter department and check what their position was regarding this fire.

2 seconds in, they pick up the phone. Their initial question is: "Is the fire in the woods?"

I guess that makes a difference in how they approach it. I reply and follow along with their instructions, sending images and my location through WhatsApp (talk about digital transformation).

I then ask for an update if possible and get a reply a couple of minutes later:

"The fire is at a place we cannot get to. We'll have to wait for it to end by itself."

That was not the response I was looking to hear, but ok.

I then followed: "Is it common? Do they usually end by themselves?"

They confirm both questions, which tells me that things are under control.

I then thank them for the update and the conversation ends.

Eventually, it started to rain and the fire was indeed extinguished.

What was left, asides from the burned wood, was the idea that we can indeed do our part to put out distant fires.

Even though the problem ended by itself, they were not aware of it and could have worked on it had it been in someplace that they could access.

To me, this reinforces two concepts:

1 - Self-responsibility, which means taking ownership of things that need to be addressed, even when they seem out of reach.

2 - Risk management, which means doing the right thing even when it may not seem necessary.

So, the next time a fire is showing up in the distance, make sure the right people are informed so we can all work on it faster, in case it's necessary.