Sarnia’s chief fire prevention officer is reminding people to be mindful how they discard smoking materials like cigarette butts after a fire damaged the outer wall of a Sarnia home this week.
Even amid frigid temperatures, the fire in the 300 block of Davis Street was able to catch – likely on leaves or small pieces of wood – between the wooden planks of a deck, and burn through the deck and up the side of the house, said Roel Bus.
Smoke alarms woke up the three occupants, who got out safely and contacted firefighters around 4:30 am Tuesday morning, Bus said.
“I think there were pets too,” he said. “Everybody got out.”
Firefighters had to tear open the outer kitchen wall to ensure the fire was out while damage was estimated at $25,000 to $30,000, he said.
Not much smoke made it inside, though enough to set off a smoke alarm, he said.
“I think people sometimes underestimate that it is possible, even when the temperatures are really low, that improperly discarding of your smoking materials can start a fire,” Bus said.
“The conditions have to be just right, but it’s certainly possible, as we can see and as we have seen in other circumstances.”
Make sure to put smoking materials in a proper container, like something metal, and make sure it doesn’t tip over, he said.
“And make sure that when you discard that container that everything is good and cold and no longer burning.”