The Montreal Fire Department is waging a war against some smokers' habit of throwing their cigarette butts into flowerpots and flower beds that are flammable.
Section Chief Louise Desrosiers points to a problem that is "growing in importance" as Quebec laws have forced smokers outside for a few years.
Chemical fertilizer - or peat moss - can ignite and smoulder for up to five hours after coming into contact with a cigarette butt - a sneaky phenomenon, Desrosiers said.
Last year, smokers extinguished their cigarettes in potting soil, mulch or other mixtures of earth - causing about 60 fires in the Montreal-area alone.
The flames that enveloped the roof of the Le Devoir building earlier this week also originated in a flower pot. The same day, another fire was declared for the same reason in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, firefighters said.
