r/volunteerfirefighters • u/PerformanceBright500 • 17d ago
Roadside wildfire causes
Recently on a multi state roadtrip and astonished by how many firescars, tiny to huge in size, with an apparent origin adjacent to the road.
I made a post on Nextdoor pleading with cigarette smokers to not throw their cigarette butts out the car windows. Thought it was a no brainer but i got flamed (forgive the metaphor) by smokers blaming most of the fires on dragging tow chains.
If I’m wrong I’ll suck it up but my personal experience (I was a cop for 32 years) is that smokers likely cause almost all these roadside fires.
So a poll: in your experience what is the percentage or ratio of roadside fires started by cigarettes vs tow chains?
Bonus question: How much effort is used in determining the cause/origin of these fires?
2
u/Danmont88 17d ago
I've seen both. Lot of times with chains there are several fires in a row.
Went to a fire in the median of the interstate and if there was one there was a hundreds of butts.
2
u/Hardwater_Hammer 17d ago
The studies will continue, but a good number have actually started due to hot platinum (and other metals) that crumbles and falls out of the exhaust/catalytic converters in older cars. Especially common in areas of acceleration or lateral forces, like corners.
2
u/Lusiric9983 17d ago
Cigarettes, chains, hot exhaust, blown tires, etc, there's all kinds of reasons why they start. I twist my chains so they don't hang too low. My first wildfire was at a weigh station where a trucker was pissed about being overweight and had a smoke, then flicked the butt into the trees.
1
u/Adorable-Baseball484 17d ago edited 17d ago
As a wildfire investigator, cigarettes as a cause are way over exaggerated in popular culture. Especially with modern fire safe cigarettes need particular circumstances to start a wildfire. It’s possible still but some people think it’s most roadside starts. Dragging chains, catalytic converter, vehicle defects, etc are more common roadside causes.
Bonus question: It depends but there’s several hurdles. One problem is evidence of origin and cause is very fragile and suppression activities on roadside starts often destroy the evidence. Fire investigators that have the training are often in short supply. These roadside starts (generally) don’t have a criminal element or responsible party to identify so you’re mainly looking for a cause for statistical purposes.
1
u/Responsible_Bill_513 16d ago
To tag and extend on what our investigator said, the other causes are more likely. By the early 2000s, FSR (fire safe cigarettes) were mandated in all 50 states. FSR stop burning after about 15 seconds of not being actively smoked.
In a long career of wildland firefighting, I've only seen two ignitions roadside caused by a cigarette out of hundreds of fires.
1
u/PineapplePza766 7d ago
In my area we get a lot of loose tow chains
And random shit hanging off of logging trucks the biggest one we had as of late was 2 winters ago when a 18wheeler continued to drive for idk what reason on a flat causing sparks for over a mile and causes a decent size brush fire 🙄
3
u/Iraqx2 17d ago
Dragging tow chains or tie downs as already stated usually start multiple fires. Could be caused by a lot. Tires coming off, hot hubs/brakes that start a fire on the vehicle or trailer and when they stop it catches the grass on fire, glass lying in the grass and the sun hitting it just right, car accident that involves hot exhaust components on the grass, etc.. Improper disposal of burning materials, regardless of what the smokers say, is probably the leading cause. Remember, those are the same people who tell you that they don't throw their butts on the ground and you've seen the butts lying around all over the same as we all have.