COURTENAY, B.C- A tossed cigarette butt had the potential to cause some damage near the Courtenay Airpark today, if not for the keen eyes of two passersby.
The two noticed bark mulch smoldering in a garden bed next to one of the condo buildings off of 20th Street, and when Courtenay fire captain Greg Lamb arrived, he quickly put out a two-by-two bark mulch fire.
Lamb said there is a lot of wood-based product in bark mulch and it’s a “great pathway for fires.”
“We’ve seen it start in one section of the garden and it can burn underneath all the way to the other side,” said Lamb.
“The fire had the potential to have done significant damage to the garden.”
Luckily, Lamb said, “buildings are designed to be so far away with non-combustible materials from garden beds, just for this exact reason.”
Lamb reminded smokers to responsible with their cigarette butts.
“If you choose to smoke, definitely butt out properly into a water source or a cup with non-combustible material.”
The fire was out by 8:10 a.m.
