Despite the conflicting stories, it is a proven fact that burning cigarette butts discarded by careless smokers can cause veld fires. The danger lies in believing that all unexplained veld fires are caused by smokers. This is both unfair and irresponsible. This article has been published to provide information to the public, and not to accuse or protect any specific group. |
| Fires caused by cigarettes can be placed into 2 categories. The first is where a person uses a burning cigarette with the specific intention of causing malicious damage. The second is where a carelessly discarded burning cigarette butt starts a vegetation fire that may cause either little or extensive damage to both the environment and possibly houses or other structures.
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| For a cigarette butt to start a veld (vegetation) fire, a number of conditions need to be present. Without going into specifics, these criteria include: |
| 1. Length of the cigarette remaining : If the cigarette has been smoked right down to the filter there will be very little combustible material remaining to start the fire 2. Wind strength : A suitable wind needs to be blowing that is neither too weak or too strong 3. Orientation of the cigarette butt to the wind : The cigarette needs to fall so that receives the optimum wind. 4. Angle of the cigarette : If the cigarette lands angled up there is very little chance of it starting a fire. 5. The type of vegetation it has landed in : There is more chance of a fire starting in old dry grass than in young moist shrubs. 6. The temperature : The higher the temperature, the more chance of a fire. 7. The Relative Humidity (the amount of moisture in the air) : This along with the plant moisture (see next item) plays an important part as to whether a plant will catch alight. 8. The amount of moisture in the vegetation : The more moisture present (such as in green plants), the more difficult it is to catch alight when compared to old dry grass. |
