RCMP in the Interior are warning motorists to not flick their smouldering cigarette butts out the window while cruising along B.C. highways because of fears that it will spark a wildfire.
“The number of forest fires in our province is increasing and crews are already busy trying to control and extinguish these fires,” Prince George RCMP Const. Lesley Smith, said in a press release yesterday.
She added RCMP would issue littering fines of $81 for people caught flicking their butts.
About 400 wildfires are burning in B.C. and about a fifth of those are human caused, according to the province’s Wildfire Management Branch.
“It happens every year,” said Gwen Eamer. a fire information officer in Kamloops. “We see fires started along highways and some are caused by cigarettes thrown out the window.”
Roadsides are often covered in long dry grass, which could ignite easier than forested areas, she added.
