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Fires Started After Someone Discarded Cigarettes

Last updated on Tuesday, June 19, 2012

(UNDATED) - Volunteer Fire fighters are stressing smokers not throw their lit cigarettes on the ground or out car windows.

On Monday firefighters from Marshall and Oolitic Volunteer Fire Department went to a home in the 100 block of Briar Avenue Monday night after a neighbor noticed the landscaping mulch smoldering and then flames headed toward the porch.

According to Marshall Fire Chief Chad Hayes the fire was started by a discarded cigarette.

"We had the fire out quickly, but it could have been worse if the neighbor had not noticed the smoldering mulch," Hayes says. "There was only minor damage to the porch railing and smoke did enter the home through the open garage door. We ventilated the home. We had almost the same thing over the weekend at Briarwood Apartments when someone discarded a cigarette in the mulch there."

Firefighters from Shawswick VFD went to a field fire in the 600 block of North Jackson Street at 12:03 p.m. Monday. Shawswick VFD Chief Bobby Brown says that fire was minor and was started by a discarded cigarette.

"We were lucky it was a minor fire," Brown says. "People need to realize we are under a burn ban and discarding lit cigarettes out of car windows or dropping them on the ground could cause a potential fire."

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