The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) is appealing to the media and the public to be thoughtful about the language used to talk about forest fires. Let’s be clear: Public safety is always first and foremost. …However, we are concerned about the growing narrative that references summer as “wildfire season,” the consistent description of weather and heat as extreme and severe, and the trend to catastrophize every new update. Such language, without context or nuance, paints the summer season with an alarmist brush. …It has a huge and irreparable impact on all sectors of the tourism industry. We know that all aspects of the economy can be negatively impacted as a result of forest fires, but we have learned the hard way that tourism businesses can be dramatically affected when B.C. forest fires are misrepresented in the media.