Bridlewood fire caused by cigarette butt
Posted Jun 13, 2011 5:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Fire fighters say a cigarette dumped into a planter full of peat moss sparked a two-alarm blaze last week that destroyed two homes in the southwest community of Bridlewood.
The fire was sparked over the noon hour Thursday on Bridleglen Road and was quickly dowsed by dozens of fire fighters.
Officials are warning about the dangers of dumping cigarettes into planters and say they are also working on changing some provincial legislation.
The two houses are still standing, but beyond repair. Charred wood and melted furniture can be seen through the door of one.
Deputy Fire Chief Brad Lorne says the fire spread quickly, and it wouldn’t have been as devastating if the houses were built further apart.
“We’re pushing for a minimum of 1.5 metres separation from house to property line, to put in some siding that is non-combustible and will allow the fire department time to get to a fire,” he says.
The current regulations only call for 1.2 metres separation from the property line.
Lorne says it’s important to have non-combustible siding.
“When we build our houses, when we do renovations on our houses, we need to put a non-combustible siding and non-vented soffit in place. Non-combustible siding will allow us about 20 minutes of time to arrive at the house and contain it to one structure. [In vented] soffits… the flames go from one house, up the wall, into the soffits and into the attic space of the adjacent property.”
Soffits are the metal pieces exposed underside of an overhanging roof eave.
New homes that are built 1.2 metres away from the property lines are required to have non-combustible siding, but many older homes, including the ones in Bridlewood, do not have them in place.
He says people should never dump cigarettes in peat moss, adding they’ve already seen over a dozen fires started that way this year.
