Dear Editor,
A fire broke out on the West Dyke near Terra Nova this afternoon. I had ridden past the very spot only a few minutes earlier, with no sign of trouble.
Returning a few minutes later, there was a raging inferno that had already reached the trees.
Luckily, another cyclist had already reported it, and a fire truck arrived minutes later. However, this fire, like the majority of others, could have been avoided through simple consideration for the environment and the health and safety of people, property, animals, and our wild spaces.
So many times, I see cigarette butts carelessly tossed onto tinder-dry grass. The field directly outside my building is a case in point. During a single block-long walk, I counted more than 16 cigarette butts before I gave up counting. Some of these butts weren’t even ground out, simply dropped.
When are people going to get it? The devastation of Fort McMurray and so many other fires were almost certainly caused by people.
Isn’t it time the fines for dropping cigarette butts were made substantially higher than for simple littering?
There’s really no excuse anymore.
S. Moore
Richmond
