Plea to smokers: Butt-out carefully
ROADSIDE HAZARD: Humans believed to have caused about 40 of the 181 active wildfires across the province
Smokers are being asked to keep an extra eye on where they butt-out following a rash of fires across the province believed to have been triggered by discarded cigarette stubs.
In Surrey, firefighters believe cigarette butts are responsible for a marked increase in the volume of grass fires they’ve battled in the past few days.
Acting assistant fire chief Craig Leighton said fire crews responded to an estimated 60 grass and mulch fires along the city’s roadways and boulevards in a 12-hour period over the weekend.
Based on the burn patterns, direction the fires travelled and absence of any other source of ignition, Leighton said “we strongly suspect” that the fires were caused by “improperly discarded smoking material.”
“I think people don’t purposefully want to cause a fire,” he said. “I think they may either flick the butt out the window as a matter of habit (or) they may try and stub it out in the ashtray and not want to keep it in the ashtray and they think they may have completely extinguished it.”
Surrey is not the only place where cigarette butts are being looked at as a source of ignition. Several recent fires, including a grass fire outside Kelowna, one on Burnaby Mountain and a handful in West Vancouver, were believed to have been triggered by discarded cigarettes.
Given the tinder-dry conditions, Leighton issued a reminder to area residents to be extra vigilant when disposing of cigarettes.
It was a sentiment echoed by Steve Thomson, the minister of forest, lands and natural resource operations, at a news conference Monday in downtown Vancouver.
Of the 181 active wildfires being fought across B.C., Thomson estimated that about 40 were caused by humans.
“Too many fires are still started (by) humans,” Thomson said. “So we need to do everything we can to assist our crews and our resources out there.”
Thomson said that a range of penalties exists for people found to have started wildfires. That includes fires started by tossed cigarette butts, he said.
He acknowledged that it can be a “challenge” to determine who was responsible for a fire.
“But if that can be determined,” Thomson said, “there is a process to assess penalties and costs against individuals.”
Fines can range from $115 for failing to report a fire to $173 for dropping or mishandling a burning substance. Stiffer fines also exist for people found to be in contravention of an open-fire ban.
In 2005, for example, a B.C. man was ordered to pay $3,000 after being found guilty of starting the massive 2003 McLure wildfire that caused millions of dollars worth of damage and forced the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes.
Asked if the province would consider an outright ban on smoking in vehicles as a way of deterring people from tossing out their cigarette butts during wildfire season, Thomson said: “It’s not something that I’ve got under active consideration.”
In Delta, the dry conditions and high fire risk prompted city officials Monday to close Watershed Park and the Delta Nature Reserve until further notice. An open-burning ban remains in effect for the entire municipality. People who violate the ban or enter the parks face fines up to $200.