Four-year-old Ashton Nimmo is making sure smokers think twice about tossing their cigarettes in his cul-de-sac after a burning butt caused his neighbour’s house to catch fire last Tuesday.
Coming home to see his neighbour’s house badly burned really scared the young boy. So much so, that he didn’t even want to sleep at home the first night, said his mom, Hayley Nimmo.
“He was too scared to go sleep the night of the fire because he was afraid someone would ‘blow smoke’ again and throw the cigarette at our house,” Nimmo said.
So Ashton, with help from his mom, decided to make a sign saying “put out your cigarettes.” It also has a no-smoking picture he created on it.
The poster is hanging on the fence in the walkway beside the charred home located in the 7200 block of 196 Street.
It was along one of the walkways in the cul-de-sac where someone tossed a lit cigarette into bark mulch. The mulch caught fire and flames jumped to the neighbour’s cedars, which ignited the home’s vinyl siding. The flames spread into the roof and now a young family will be living in a hotel or with family while their home is repaired.
“I think it sends a great message to irresponsible smokers,” said Hayley.
“It makes me feel good to have the sign up, because then nobody will put their cigarettes near my house,” said Ashton.
It was the second time in two weeks that a fire was started in that neighbourhood because of a careless smoker, according to the fire department.
“I think that’s awesome and it really shows he cares about his community,” said Township assistant fire chief Pat Walker. After hearing of Ashton’s impressive commitment to fire safety, Walker is hoping to give the boy one of the department’s Safety Bears.