Spring is here and the weather is warming, but that means that the danger of an improperly disposed of cigarette starting a grass fire is becoming greater.

 Smoking materials, such as cigarettes can potentially start a fire long after they have been thrown away if they were not put out properly. A discarded cigarette in a bush can, with enough wind and the right situation, start a dangerous grass fire.

Deputy Chief Garth Rabel with the Airdrie Fire Department says that improperly disposing of smoking materials is the cause of a lot of fires.

"The improper disposal of smoking materials does lead to a lot of the existing residential fires that we experience, not just in our community, but in most municipalities. The responsible disposal of smoking materials is extremely important."

Rabel says there are a few different ways that smoking material can be improperly disposed of.

"We usually see it three different ways. There's in the inside of our residences or our homes, there's the outside, and, of course, there's also inside of our vehicles. Inside the home, if you are a smoker, then, by all means, make sure you have the right ashtrays and places to dispose of your smoking materials. There should be lots of ashtrays and they're noncombustible, of course. They should be maintained, which means cleaning them out and disposing of the cigarette butts responsibly at the end of the day. If you're out on the deck, that's where we see a lot of our fires take place. Where smoking materials are put into things such as planters or overloaded containers with other butts and then the fire can grow and expand very quickly. The same rules apply, noncombustible containers, tin, glass and make sure that they're kept clean and that you dispose of the butts properly at the end of the day."

The final way is perhaps the one Rabel finds most annoying.

"The third is cars. Nothing frustrates us more than, in the dry season, seeing cigarette butts coming out of moving vehicles and landing in our ditches. They can sit there for a long period of time and, with a subtle wind, it can start to light that dry, dry grass on fire and, before you know it, we can have a running grass fire."

Fires from smoking material can be especially dangerous due to the time it takes to start. It's rarely instantaneous and can surprise a homeowner if they are not careful.

"People sometimes tend not to smoke in their homes, so they go out to their deck. And, if the deck is attached to the home and they don't dispose of the cigarette butts properly, the embers can start to ignite. Maybe ignite adjacent vinyl siding, make its way to the exterior of the house, reach itself into the exterior of the house through the sockets, and then we have a real problem. We've seen that occur."

"It's all preventable. Very presentable. So, we just have to pay attention to what we're doing and dispose of our smoking materials safety."

Now that the weather is starting to warm up, Rabel says that just means it could be more dangerous.

"We're moving into spring, conditions are starting to dry up and the grass is quite long after winter sleep, so we just have to make sure that we don't put ourselves at risk by carelessly disposing of smoking material or any outdoor fires like firepits. There are regulations in place, let's just follow the rules."

Of course, one of the easiest ways to make ensure the safety of the homeowners is to make sure all smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are working and active. 

"Spring again is a great time to check our residential smoke alarms and, of course, our carbon monoxide detectors which should be on every level of the home where people sleep within three to five metres of bedroom doors. Our residential home safety program that the Airdrie Fire Department delivers annually will also be kicking off here in April, so you'll see our firefighters on the street."

 

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