Careless smokers sparked 12 fires in seven days, firefighters say
Firefighters on the North Shore are becoming frustrated by the careless disposal of cigarettes that is believed to be responsible for dozens of brush fires in recent weeks.
“We’ve had 12 fires in the last seven days, all of them caused, we believe, by discarded cigarettes,” West Vancouver Fire and Rescue assistant chief Jeff Bush said Wednesday. “All we can do is keep trying to get the message out for people to be careful when discarding smoking materials.”
As he spoke, crews were mopping up the most recent blaze, just above the tollbooths at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. Bush said the fire was the most serious of the recent blazes apparently sparked by smokers. It was reported at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, and when crews arrived at the scene, flames were generally sticking close to the ground, but occasionally leaped into the trees.
“The problem that we face is that there’s no hydrants up here, so we had to … run tanker shuttles,” Bush said. The nearest hydrant was 2.5 kilometres away. At one point on Tuesday, all four West Vancouver engines were working on the fire, as well as a helicopter and crews from the Coastal Fire Centre.
Crews continued to battle the blaze until 10 p.m., when it became too dangerous to continue on the steep terrain. But they were back at 3:30 a.m., when multiple calls came in to report the fire had flared up again.
A four-person crew from West Vancouver and three provincial firefighters were on the scene Wednesday.
“It’s out now,” Bush said. “We’re just mopping up.”
He believes the fire was started by someone driving south on the Sea to Sky Highway flicking a lit cigarette butt out of a car window.
“There are no trails in that area, we didn’t have any lightning strikes, and the point of origin was on the shady side of the highway right near the road,” he said.
“Obviously, the message about not discarding smoking material isn’t hitting home,” he said. “People just either don’t care or I’m not sure what it is. It’s inconceivable to me, the carelessness.
“It would be a shame if something like this led us to lose a nice area. We are concerned too that there is the danger to residences.”
Careless disposal of smoking materials can result in fines ranging from $100 to $500, he said.
Neighbouring North Vancouver has had 15 brush fires since the beginning of June, three or four of which were deliberately set, said David Owens, North Vancouver’s assistant fire chief.
“This is certainly a concern, and we would ask the public to immediately call 911 if they see this type of thing as it could have tragic consequences,” Owens said.
Many of the other fires are believed to have been caused by discarded cigarettes, but some were started by youths building bonfires in parks.
“Yes, it’s very scary that anyone would think of doing something like that,” he said.
May and June were extremely dry months along the south coast, and the fire danger rating for the North Shore is now set at high, according to the Wildfire Management Branch.