Cigarette litter linked to fires and fines

environment · Summer 2023 · Victoria, Saanich and Central Saanich

The issue reported widespread cigarette-butt pollution and cited recent fires in Central Saanich caused by discarded cigarettes, including a brush fire and a bark-mulch fire. Two drivers in Victoria and Saanich were each ticketed $575 for mishandling burning substances, and BC Wildfire Service warned that people may be liable for firefighting and related costs if discarded cigarettes cause fires.

This is the archive, not the newspaper. Between 2018 and 2026 this site compiled these items automatically from public community sources — chiefly The Islands Grapevine, regional news feeds and community groups. They were not written by a reporter and were not held to the standards this publication now applies. The archive is kept because it is a useful dated record of what happened on Denman, and it is labelled because pretending otherwise would be the first thing we would tell you not to trust. Current reporting is at The Denman Firestarter.

Sources

• “Both were each ticketed $575 under the Wildfire Act “for dropping, releasing or mishandling a burning substance.”” — The Islands Grapevine – September 7th, 2023 (September 7th, 2023)

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