CORNWALL, Ontario – Cornwall Fire Services (CFS) declared that the cause of a fire on Wednesday, April 29 was the “careless” discarding of smoking materials.
CFS received the call at around 1 p.m. on Wednesday and arrived shortly there after to a three alarm blaze at a house containing three apartments in the 100 block of McConnell Ave.
The home was severely damaged, but no injuries were reported.
“Smoking is the number one cause of fatal home fires in Canada, and during these times of physical distancing, when residents are spending more time at home, it’s important to be vigilant,” said Fire Chief Pierre Voisine. “Luckily, no one was hurt.”
CFS offered the following tips to avoid smoking related fires:
- Discarding cigarette butts in large, deep ashtrays that cannot be knocked over,
- Emptying ashes into a metal container – not the garbage can,
- Smoking outside,
- Never smoking in bed, and
- Never extinguishing cigarettes in plant pots, which may contain a mixture of peat moss, shredded wood, and bark, that can easily ignite.
