“Only you can prevent wildfires…”
Many people remember watching Smokey Bear cartoons as kids, and they now mock the program’s belief that people needed to be told not to start wildfires. Well, it turns out that some individuals actually do require those basic instructions, as evidenced by the California fire sparked by Independence Day grilling.
It appears that somebody left their grill unattended on Napa, California’s Smittle Creek Trail. Sadly, the flames quickly spread to nearby leaves and started a fire. California is known to have a massive wildfire problem. Unfortunately, it seems someone has added human negligence to the Golden State’s fire dilemma.
Bush fire started by somebody grilling next to dry grass
byu/bigbusta inPublicFreakout
Of course, the internet was furious over the actions displayed in the clip. Reddit comments included, “People are so [expletive] dumb,” “‘It won’t happen to me, I’ll be careful.’ Said every [expletive] before acting dumb,” and, “Did they seriously just leave it unattended?? Where is everyone?“
Many also expressed a desire for whoever is responsible to get caught and face consequences. Someone asked, “Does the person grilling have to pay damages to the county if they get found out?” Another expressed, “This is unacceptable. Whoever was responsible for this should be forced to pay the full damages this is going to cause. What a moron.” They also noted that the aforementioned damage caused would likely be highly expensive for the state to rectify.
Whoever is responsible can’t argue that they weren’t warned. As one person clarified, “I’m from the area and frequent that lake every once in a while. There is signage EVERYWHERE stating only propane fires.” Other people referenced Smokey Bear – and common sense – as two things that should have crossed this person’s mind prior to leaving the grill unattended.
Others shared that California gets a bad reputation for high crime and arson. While both of those are true, some of the state’s famous fires are started by pure negligence and a lack of thinking things through, as was displayed in this clip.
As of the time of writing, no new information regarding the clip has surfaced. There is a fire in that area that is currently 90% contained. That said, while it’s possible that is the same fire seen in the video, we cannot be certain of that.
Either way, let’s all try to remember to never leave open flames unattended, always grill responsibly, and that California is basically a state-wide tinderbox. Also, it may be time to stop mocking poor Smokey Bear for stating the obvious – clearly, some people need his guidance.
