Fire season in Sooke begins – Sooke PocketNews

Sooke PocketNews reader Jonathan Francoeur sent us the following photo with a very timely reminder: “This cigarette butt started a small fire in the bark mulch at the plaza. It’s April. This year will be hot and dry.”

It was a small fire that Francoeur found, and was able to extinguish, at Greenwood Plaza.

This tossed-but-not-extinguished cigarette butt started a small smolder. Were it not found and extinguished, it had the potential to become something bigger.

As reported earlier in Sooke PocketNews, fines have significantly increased effective April 1: “Failing to properly extinguish a burning substance, such as a cigarette, will now cost an offender $575.”

This follows on the heels of Chief Sorenson’s report at Monday’s Council Meeting, that Sooke fire attended their two first brush fires of the year, occurring within a span of nine hours over the weekend just past.

#Sooke fire fighters tackled 2 small brush fires in 9 hours yesterday and last night. A reminder to all of how dry it is already.

— Sooke Fire Fighters (@iaff4841) April 24, 2016

Just a reminder to all: Human-caused fires a) are preventable, and b) have substantially increased fines attached to human carelessness.

Look under the Resources below for additional information.

Resources