Toronto, Aug 13: A volunteer firefighter in British Columbia told a television network that his carelessly discarded cigarette sparked the forest fire that has caused millions of dollars of damage in Canada's westernmost province. Mike Barre, 50, lamented about ditching his cigarette outside a restaurant, saying that when he realized what had happened he notified a forestry official immediately and ran door to door to try to evacuate people near the Kamloops area.
The fire triggered the evacuation of more than 8,500 people in the province, all of whom returned to their homes over the weekend, fire officials said. Fire damage in the Mclure-Barriere area, near Kamloops, is estimated at more than 8.2 million dollars (5.8 million US dollars), including the destruction of some 40 houses and 26 trailers, they said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has yet to decide whether it will press charges against Barre, saying an investigation will take months. As of Monday, a total of 861 fires remained burning in British Columbia, which has seen some 91,243 hectares (225,370 acres) charred since the current fiscal year began on April 1.
In the neighboring province of Alberta, 21 fires continued to burn, including five new ones since Monday.
Wildfires there have destroyed some 111,150 acres. Bureau Report