An afternoon fire on Fredericton’s north-side has prompted the city’s assistant deputy fire chief to remind residents that cigarette butts and smoking materials should be safely and properly extinguished.
Asst. deputy fire chief David McKinley said the fire started at the McKeen Street home when a cigarette butt was put out in a planter on the back deck.
“The cause for this fire was smoking materials that were discarded inside a potting plant,” McKinley said.
McKinley said there was no significant damage thanks to a quick 911 call from someone who spotted smoke while driving in the area.
He said this type of fire is unfortunate, but fairly common in Fredericton, especially during hot, dry conditions.
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“We have about one fire per month attributed to inappropriate disposal of smokers’ materials, so in the summer you know that’s probably two a month so that’s an ongoing problem for us,” McKinley said.
He said the Fredericton Fire Department has put out several tweets about the issue on social media, but said people don’t seem to be getting the message.
In an email statement from staff from the province’s Office of the Fire Marshal, they said the improper disposal or use of smoker’s material is “historically a significant cause of fires in New Brunswick.”
The statement said it is one of the top three causes of fires in the province, along with chimney and kitchen fires.
“Every year there are approximately 125 fires in the province of New Brunswick from improper use of disposal of smoker’s materials,” a spokesperson wrote.
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They said that includes cigarette butts, the disposal of ashtrays, lighters and matches related to smoking.
“The Fire Marshal strongly encourages everyone to soak matches and cigarette butts before disposing of the, and only to dispose of cigarette butts in a proper ashtray.”
McKinley said the family is lucky the damage to their home Friday afternoon was minimal. He said people need to use a proper fire-proof container with water in it to put out smoking materials and said it should be as far away as possible from houses and decks.
New Brunswick’s Provincial Fire Operation Specialist Eric McLellan spoke with Global News by phone Friday and said it’s not just backyard planters that can catch fire from cigarette butts.
“It’s always a risk around the home, but it also a risk out in the forest so we would advise the public to make sure that things are always properly extinguished whether it be a cigarette or a camp fire,” McLellan said.
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