It’s official: Richmond is smoking hot. And it’s not a good thing.
With temperatures heating up and hazy skies reminding residents that the province’s Interior wildfires are not that far away from the Lower Mainland, Richmond Fire-Rescue is issuing an urgent warning about discarded cigarettes, which are now the number-one cause of fires in the city.
Firefighters are currently having to respond to more than two cigarette-started fires each day, said Richmond Fire-Rescue spokesperson Capt. Brian MacLeod.
During the first 25 days of July, fire crews responded to 55 blazes caused by carelessly discarded cigarettes and other smokers’ materials, such as matches, lighters and pipes.
“These statistics are alarming and an anomaly to the City of Richmond,” MacLeod said. “We aren’t aware of anywhere else in North America where smoking materials are attributed as the number-one cause of fires.”
Cooking usually the main fire culprit, he said, and those blazes are accidental.
Cigarette fires are almost 100 per cent preventable, said MacLeod, and as far as he’s concerned, discarding cigarettes improperly amounts to negligence.
Butts are being tossed out of car windows (MacLeod noted new vehicles don’t come equipped with ashtrays anymore so incidents are on the rise), thrown on the ground and flicked off condo balconies.
“This is especially problematic in Richmond with the older buildings,” he said.
Richmond crews attend three fire calls a day on average and smoking-related blazes are now accounting for more than two-thirds of the responses, MacLeod said.
These same types of fires accounted for just 43 per cent of all fires in Richmond in 2016.
Cigarette fires entail sending out a truck, a minimum fire crew of four, and sometimes an inspector to ensure the fire doesn’t continue to smoulder under bark mulch or peat moss.
“That truck is now taken out of service and can’t respond to other emergency calls,” MacLeod said.
With the current tinder-dry conditions, people need to alter their behaviour immediately, said Richmond Fire Chief John McGowan.
“We need to make a change and it needs to happen right now,” McGowan said. “Regardless of how the fires start, carelessly discarded smokers’ material fires are almost always preventable with care.”
Due to the continued high fire risk, a number of trails in Richmond have been closed and all open air burning is completely prohibited in the city.
Park and trail closures (as of July 31) include: Shell Road Trail, Horseshoe Slough Trail, Bridgeport Trail, Queens Canal Trails, and Nature Park West boardwalks and trails.
To raise awareness of the escalating cigarette danger, Richmond Fire-Rescue is asking the public to support a new campaign called The World is Not Your Ashtray – Butt Out Responsibly.
Removable stickers that can be placed in vehicle windows are available at all seven Richmond fire halls or from a firefighter, if you see one. For more options to get a sticker, call 604-278-5131.
If you are a smoker:
• Extinguish cigarettes in deep, non-combustible ashtrays.
• Make sure matches and cigarette butts in ashtrays are wet and completely extinguished before putting them in the garbage.
• Never extinguish smoking materials in planted pots, bark mulch or peat moss.
• Never throw cigarettes or other smoking materials on the ground.
• Keep lighters, matches and cigarettes away from children.
