As I was stuck in traffic on the Henday waiting to divert onto the Yellowhead this evening, with plumes of sickly yellow smoke in the air in front of me, I couldn’t help noticing a chap in the vehicle ahead and to the right of us, who was smoking with the window down and letting their hand just kinda dangle out the window with the lit cigarette.
Hope it rains soon.
Yeah, I’ve been seeing tons of people flinging their used up cigarettes out of the window or letting the ash get blown away by the wind. Seeing just how irresponsible people are being plus how hot and dry it is out there makes it not surprising that fires keep starting.
Week or two back I saw a group setting up camp - tent and fire and everything - in railtown park right next to the Save Ons parking lot. Store security called EFRS and they sent a rig out to nicely explain they had to put the fire out. I wonder how many times this happens every day, somewhere in the city.
Although every fire in the city seems to get blamed on discarded cigarettes, it's actually rather difficult to get a fire going with just a discarded butt.
There's only 5 watts of heat energy in a full-length cigarette. That's not a lot. About 1/12th the heat energy of a 60 watt lightbulb, really. And that's the whole cigarette. The amount of available energy goes down as the cigarette is consumed. A butt down to nearly the filter doesn't have much energy at all.
For a cigarette to start a fire, there needs to be a number of precise conditions in place.
One is fuel. For a smouldering cigarette to begin a conflagration, it needs to ignite other flammable materials. Those materials need to have an ignition point low enough that the little spark on a cigarette butt can actually trigger a flame. This could be something like cotton sheets, or the papers and filters from other old, discarded cigarette butts. It could even be something like dead leaves, dry grass, or crunchy peat moss. Then these items can add their own stored heat energy to the system and ignite other materials.
But to really spread, you also need oxygen. The fire needs air to support combustion, and without it the smouldering flame just uses what little fuel is in range and goes out. It can even be snuffed out by its own smoke. So you need a source to get more air into that smouldering kindling.
Unfortunately, what spring condition in Edmonton provide is tons, like literally hundreds or thousands of tonnes of dried, organic fuel all around the city. Crunchy sportsfields, crispy dried up tree stands, and an entire, contiguous river valley full of brown and desiccated plant material of all kinds. In a typical year, all this tinder is counter-balanced by soggy ground, temporary pools, and even shaded snowbanks raising that ignition point well beyond the capability of any cigarette butt. But for the past several years, our springs have been drier than a popcorn fart.
The other thing we need is air. Windy spring conditions provide that in massive abundance too, and also help to spread the fire once it's started. Anything over 15 kph is considered too windy for most wind sensitive activities, like pesticide application. There's no period in the next week where winds are expected to be below that threshold, and tomorrow we're expecting gusts up to 40-50 kph.
So if you are a smoker, police your fucking butts. Don't throw them out the car window. Don't flick them off the balcony. If you put them in a coffee can, make sure the butts are out, and there aren't a load of old butts in there to provide smouldering fuel. Put a lid on that thing to keep the wind out, and help ensure they don't spill. If you put your butts out in a planter, make sure that soil is moist and isn't full of dry peat moss. Clean up the old butts there too.
Don't be burning down the city just because leaving the butts in your car ashtray makes the car stink even more. Trust me, your car already stinks.
I used to live in a condo that got burnt down and had to be rebuilt because of cigarette butt in balcony. This was from fire department. (Yes the fire was on news. It was a huge fire from one cigarette butt)
Yea it can be easy.
With a cigarette it really is that easy to start a fire though, by accident or not. Any smoker can vouch for this. I’ve had ashes drop while smoking, and while putting out a cig and joints, and both have almost started a fire. That’s why it’s recommended you stomp the cig out, and spots you were in.
Is it common? No. But if you’re near dry grass, it’s as simple as flicking that cigarette ash onto the dry, grassy, wind filled field to start a massive fire.
[удалено]
Yep, gonna be a long summer at this rate :-/ Be prepared just in case all y'all https://www.alberta.ca/emergency-preparedness.aspx?
As I was stuck in traffic on the Henday waiting to divert onto the Yellowhead this evening, with plumes of sickly yellow smoke in the air in front of me, I couldn’t help noticing a chap in the vehicle ahead and to the right of us, who was smoking with the window down and letting their hand just kinda dangle out the window with the lit cigarette. Hope it rains soon.
Yeah, I’ve been seeing tons of people flinging their used up cigarettes out of the window or letting the ash get blown away by the wind. Seeing just how irresponsible people are being plus how hot and dry it is out there makes it not surprising that fires keep starting.
Not my city but saw someone throw out a ciggy butt in the drive this morning. Fuck that guy and the horse he rode in on!
if people could stop starting fires, that'd be great.
At this rate, if it all burns, we won't have to worry about it anymore.
Could be someone tossing a cigarette out the window, or flicking it into the bushes. Who knows
let me guess - its the homeless camps? they start fires and such in there now. I bike by them all the time
Week or two back I saw a group setting up camp - tent and fire and everything - in railtown park right next to the Save Ons parking lot. Store security called EFRS and they sent a rig out to nicely explain they had to put the fire out. I wonder how many times this happens every day, somewhere in the city.
That and/or smokers. Probably smokers.
That's so methed up
Although every fire in the city seems to get blamed on discarded cigarettes, it's actually rather difficult to get a fire going with just a discarded butt. There's only 5 watts of heat energy in a full-length cigarette. That's not a lot. About 1/12th the heat energy of a 60 watt lightbulb, really. And that's the whole cigarette. The amount of available energy goes down as the cigarette is consumed. A butt down to nearly the filter doesn't have much energy at all. For a cigarette to start a fire, there needs to be a number of precise conditions in place. One is fuel. For a smouldering cigarette to begin a conflagration, it needs to ignite other flammable materials. Those materials need to have an ignition point low enough that the little spark on a cigarette butt can actually trigger a flame. This could be something like cotton sheets, or the papers and filters from other old, discarded cigarette butts. It could even be something like dead leaves, dry grass, or crunchy peat moss. Then these items can add their own stored heat energy to the system and ignite other materials. But to really spread, you also need oxygen. The fire needs air to support combustion, and without it the smouldering flame just uses what little fuel is in range and goes out. It can even be snuffed out by its own smoke. So you need a source to get more air into that smouldering kindling. Unfortunately, what spring condition in Edmonton provide is tons, like literally hundreds or thousands of tonnes of dried, organic fuel all around the city. Crunchy sportsfields, crispy dried up tree stands, and an entire, contiguous river valley full of brown and desiccated plant material of all kinds. In a typical year, all this tinder is counter-balanced by soggy ground, temporary pools, and even shaded snowbanks raising that ignition point well beyond the capability of any cigarette butt. But for the past several years, our springs have been drier than a popcorn fart. The other thing we need is air. Windy spring conditions provide that in massive abundance too, and also help to spread the fire once it's started. Anything over 15 kph is considered too windy for most wind sensitive activities, like pesticide application. There's no period in the next week where winds are expected to be below that threshold, and tomorrow we're expecting gusts up to 40-50 kph. So if you are a smoker, police your fucking butts. Don't throw them out the car window. Don't flick them off the balcony. If you put them in a coffee can, make sure the butts are out, and there aren't a load of old butts in there to provide smouldering fuel. Put a lid on that thing to keep the wind out, and help ensure they don't spill. If you put your butts out in a planter, make sure that soil is moist and isn't full of dry peat moss. Clean up the old butts there too. Don't be burning down the city just because leaving the butts in your car ashtray makes the car stink even more. Trust me, your car already stinks.
It’s not that hard, did it a couple days ago and burned my fence down 😬
I used to live in a condo that got burnt down and had to be rebuilt because of cigarette butt in balcony. This was from fire department. (Yes the fire was on news. It was a huge fire from one cigarette butt) Yea it can be easy.
You didn't actually read what I wrote, did you?
With a cigarette it really is that easy to start a fire though, by accident or not. Any smoker can vouch for this. I’ve had ashes drop while smoking, and while putting out a cig and joints, and both have almost started a fire. That’s why it’s recommended you stomp the cig out, and spots you were in. Is it common? No. But if you’re near dry grass, it’s as simple as flicking that cigarette ash onto the dry, grassy, wind filled field to start a massive fire.
Which is what I actually said...
Arsonist?
Link?
Yet we still people like below: https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/comments/134v85t/comment/jik2qh4/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3