Tossed cigarettes pose real threats

My wife and I were heading home recently when we passed our neighbors’ house and noticed that the corner of their lawn was smoking heavily, jetting out a few stray columns of white smoke. At first, we thought it was a controlled burn, but when I went to alert the neighbors to the problem, the smoke got worse and we knew that before too long – if nothing was done – part of the lawn would catch fire. Our neighbors’ lives could have been endangered, especially since their van was parked near the corner. We alerted them to the problem and they quickly hosed it down.

The culprit, it turns out, was a stray cigarette flicked from the car of a passing motorist. Whether this was done intentionally or accidentally, we don’t know. But we would like to get the word out that because of the extremely dry conditions around here, the fire danger is very real. People should take the necessary precautions to make sure they aren’t next.

Everett