The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Officials believe a pedestrian flicking a cigarette butt ignited a small but potentially devastating fire at a Hill Street home. The evening of Friday, March 23, firefighters responded to what Fire Chief Jim Petrie called 'a very small, smouldering fire' in the wall of an occupied home. 'The probable cause of the fire was a discarded cigarette butt that just happened to land in some very dry boards' on the home's exterior, he said. 'It was more smoke and smouldering than anything else, but due to the age of the home, the potential was there for a very large fire.' Open up wall Firefighters 'had to open up the wall inside and outside to ensure the smouldering hadn't spread any further and make sure the fire was out,' added Petrie. There were no injuries as financial damages totalled about $4,000. Firefighters were called to the fire at 8:59 p.m., with six members spending about half an hour on scene. Petrie said the incident should serve as a reminder for smokers to be cautious with their cigarette butts. 'Cigarette butts have started thousands of fires over the years and they still start fires,' he said. 'Even with the education programs that fire departments have put on over the years, people are still discarding cigarette butts carelessly.'
