Cigarettes Can Spark Wildfires, Firefighters Warn

EL PASO COUNTY - Firefighters say all it takes is one cigarette to start a massive wildfire given the right conditions. The El Paso County Sheriff's Office says a littered cigarette is to blame for a 12-acre fire in Ellicott. Already 800 acres of land inside of El Paso County have burned due to wildfires and firefighters want to make sure the next fire isn't the result of human error. "Wildfires start from two different areas; lightning and human factor," Falcon firefighter Jermaine Frye says. NEWSCHANNEL 13, along with Frye, visited a Falcon homeowner whose garden was nearly completely burned possibly because of a cigarette. "If the wind is blowing hard, this will spread very, very easily - it can also spread to other places." A cigarette can get as hot as 700 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature Frye says is hot enough to easily start a fire given dry conditions and strong winds. Drivers have also been spotted throwing their cigarette butts out of their car windows. NEWSCHANNEL 13 made a stop along Highway 24 and found numerous cigarette butts on the side of the road, right next to large, dry, grassy areas.