They say that where there is smoke, there is fire. That is mostly true, though, if we are honest, once a small fire has kicked over into a full scale conflagration the amount of smoke generally drops down as more fuel is consumed. Like the danger to follow, the smoke starts small and increases slowly until things really get going. Those first tendrils are a warning of what is to come, that is why we have firetowers. They watch for the smoke, because as long as things are smoldering you can still put the fire out. So, with a nod toward Smokey Bear and that eternal vigilance that Thomas Jefferson almost certainly did not reference, or at least not first; won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Paris is Burning.
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