A cigarette put out in a planter was the cause a fire that substantially damaged two homes and left 20 people displaced Monday evening in Halifax.
“Once the planter started, it must have gone to the recyclables, and that created quite an aggressive fire,” said Fire Prevention Division Chief Matt Covey on Tuesday.
There were no reported injuries but it’s part of a trend that is concerning to safety officials.
READ MORE: False alarm fines: Halifax sees increase in costs for fire, security false alarms
So far in 2017 there have been 29 fires caused by careless use of smoking materials in the municipality. Four have come in the past week.
Fifty-three fires in the municipality were caused caused by careless use of smoking materials in all of 2016.
“It’s entirely preventable. We just tweeted a picture of another butt container, and it’s in a plastic container, and it’s overflowing. People are not properly disposing of their materials,” said Covey.
The initial 911 call came in at 6:22 p.m., with the first fire engine arrived five minutes later. Crews spent a couple of hours putting out the fire before the investigation started.
Two of the four townhouses in Bethany Way were left substantially damaged by the fire. Another house received minor damage while another one was spared completely.
Help provided to residents
Dan Bedell, Atlantic communications director for the Canadian Red Cross, said the organization has assisted the people that were displaced, purchasing food, clothing, and personal care items.
“In most cases, these are people that do have insurance, so we believe that insurance will be able to assist moving forward,” he added.
Scott MacDonald, general manager of Future Inns, said the hotel provided free makeshift accommodations for one family Monday night.
The family, which brought pets, slept on cots in a conference room. Every room was already booked; many tourists visited Halifax over the last few days for the tall ships event.
READ MORE: Discarded cigarette caused Halifax apartment building fire: official
Safety measures
Covey recommends that smokers use metal container with sand or water inside to put out their cigarettes.
Current dry conditions in the municipality have increased the chances of fires being ignited, so people should be extra careful, Covey said.
“Right now we’re seeing building fires, but we could just as quickly have a major wildfire started by the same kind of thing,” he said.