(Aired on July 28, 2010)
There is some suggestion last night's Barnhartvale fire was started by a discarded cigarette. If that's the case, it's utterly, mind-numbingly stupid.
I'll be quite clear - as of the time I am recording this segment, the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. However, this much we know. It started near a church on Todd Road. There was no lightning in the area. It started under cover of darkness. And to top it off, RCMP this morning issued a stern warning for people not to discard cigarette butts. Police encouraged witnesses to turn in violaters, and threatened to levy fines against people found to be responsible. So it's not far from the realm of possibility that last night's chaos was caused by a simple act of carelessness and/or laziness.
Anyone who has lived in the BC Interior for any length of time should know by now that this is a no-no. And if they haven't had it drilled into their by firefighting public relations types, it should be a matter of common sense.
A spark from a train causing a fire is one thing. It's not inexcusable, but at least in most cases - like last week on the Kamloops Indian Reserve - the railway takes responsibility and tries to make things right. But a cigarette thrown out of a vehicle is pure negligence. It's awful close to being malicious. And the penalties for doing it are not nearly steep enough.
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