Tossed cigarettes and ashes cause fires
by Mary P Brooke
Saturday, July 28 ~ LANGFORD. Tossed cigarettes cause fires! There may be a misconception that if you toss a cigarette butt out your car window that it’s no longer still lit or that somehow it is extinguished. [Read this article on its own page]
“So many people I talk to say they would never toss a lit cigarette on the ground, but then go on to say that they knock the ash off to extinguish it first,” says City of Langford Fire Chief Chris Aubrey.
“A cigarette is not extinguished until it has been cooled sufficiently with water so that all heat has been removed from it,” says Aubrey. It can sometimes be several hours after the cigarette has been discarded that we get called because they can retain their heat for a long time and can easily ignite grass or bark mulch on fire. Tossing it on the pavement is not an option either as the wind created by passing vehicles will push the cigarette onto the shoulder which likely has grass.
“If simply knocking the ash off first was the answer, then fire departments would not have to respond to these types of incidents as much as we do. Just last week, Surrey Fire went to 20 cigarette related fires in two days, so it is not just a local problem,” says Langford’s fire chief. “It’s also an incredible source of litter as well.”
There have been about 30 smoking related fires since the start of June. This is about average. “However, the most concerning one was an incident in Mill Hill Park last week. A hiker discovered a small fire that was attributed to someone sitting in the park watching the sunset while smoking and leaving the cigarette behind which started the fire,” says Aubrey. “Even more concerning was that as firefighters were hiking along the trail to fight the fire, they found another still-smoldering cigarette on wood chip trail. With conditions as dry as they are, smoking inside the forested parks and trails could be disastrous.”
The best way to dispose of a lit cigarette is to place in a manufactured ash tray or to wet it sufficiently to remove all the heat. If you do not have an ash tray in your vehicle, there are several portable ash tray options that can be purchased at local stores that can fit into the cup holder. Wet the ash before disposing it into the garbage to ensure there is no remaining heat in the ash.
These are all preventable fires. “Working together we can make our communities safer,” says Chief Aubrey.
This article was first published in the July 27, 2018 print/PDF issue of West Shore Voice News
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