Cigarette butts cause many fires
BY PHIL MULKINS World Action Line Editor
Monday, March 16, 2009
3/16/11 at 9:48 AM
"Keep your butts in the car," is the easiest way people can prevent grass fires that turn into brush and house fires, said Tulsa Fire Department spokesman Capt. Michael Baker. "Stop throwing your burning cigarettes out the window. This causes more trouble for the Tulsa Fire Department than any other cause: lightning strikes, electrical fires, etc.
"An example is the right-of-way grass fire near 21st Street and Mingo Road. Someone threw out a cigarette and burned over an acre (the size of a football field). There was a PSO substation in the area, extensive wooden fencing and lots of properties backed right up to it. If that grass had been any taller we might have had a much bigger problem. This is why we are so strict on outdoor burning and fireworks," Baker said.
"We still have areas around town of five to 10 acres that have woods with dry fuel that could be involved at any time by juveniles setting fires or people throwing out cigarettes — we have a lot of that in east Tulsa — and when it backs up to an apartment complex we have big problems," he said.
The area also is still dealing with unattended areas hit by the December 2007 ice storm — downed limbs and dead, low-hanging debris. Some are heavily wooded and in populated zones that could be involved. This is not being cleaned up. It's unattended property. It would make sense for neighbors to take the initiative to go out and clear away dead and drying debris.
The problem is the area hasn't had the volume of rain necessary to keep the soil damp to any depth.
Thinner fuels like tall grass are easily dried in a day or two of medium, southerly winds and low humidity.
Also, piled debris never gets wet enough to stay wet. The larger limbs and sticks with intact bark have been drying for over a year and will never get rained on enough for dampness to reach the interior. It remains "dry fuel." Until the area receives substantial rains, the problem will persist, Baker said.
Phil Mulkins 581-8339
phil.mulkins@tulsaworld.com
TULSA FIRE CODE HIGHLIGHTS
Tossing “burning objects”
out of vehicle windows is
a violation of the Tulsa Fire
Code (Title 14, Section 310.7)
and punishable by a maximum
fine of $500 and up
to 90 days in jail, said Tulsa
Fire Department spokesman
Capt. Michael Baker.
Tossing a lighted cigarette
out the window, under these
drought conditions, can result
in a grass fire. If it burns up
under a car or into a building,
causing $2,500 or more in
damage, the tosser can be
charged with “malicious
injury to property.” This is a
felony punishable by a fine of
up to $1,000 and up to two
years in the state penitentiary,
said Baker.
In the event a Fire Department
employee witnesses
such a violation, a fire marshal
or a fire code enforcement
officer is called in to
issue a citation. There is no
way for a citizen motorist to
report seeing such violation
— as the guilty driver or
passenger would have to be
identified in a lineup by the
motorist. But a Tulsa Police
Department officer witnessing
such carelessness or
malicious mischief can pull
over the driver and issue a
citation based on what he
has witnessed.
City Prosecutor Bob
Garner said the “burning
objects” portion of the fire
code crosses his desks two to
five times per month, more
often under such dry conditions.”
He said the “preset
fine” on such violation issued
by a Tulsa officer is $220 or
the violation can be “booked
to court” where the judge
can issue a $500 fine and 90
days in jail.
Any officer witnessing the
telltale evidence of showering
embers following a moving
vehicle has the authority to
pull the driver over to issue
the citation. As these infractions
are becoming so potentially
dangerous to life and
property, patrolling officers
are writing more of them.
Associated Images:
Tossing a lighted cigarette out of a vehicle window in Tulsa is punishable by a fine of up to $500 and 90 days in jail. Tulsa World file
|
