Port Alberni RCMP tracked down a driver who had been spotted flicking cigarette ash out his car window yesterday.
The 50 year old Port Alberni resident eventually discarded the cigarette at the intersection of Johnston Rd and Helen Street, and was issued a $575 ticket under the Wildfire Act for it.
Later in the day, a small grass fire was spotted in the 3600 block of 5th Ave by a passing police officer, who extinguished it and called the fire department to thouroughly soak the area.
People had been seen in the immediate area minutes before the fire started, and it’s believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette.