'Stupidity': B.C. mayor sounds off after fireworks cause brush fire
![Nanaimo brush fire This screen grab of a video posted to social media shows a brush fire that was sparked by fireworks in a Nanaimo, B.C., park. (Image credit: Reddit/@riddlestheanswer)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/7/14/nanaimo-brush-fire-1-6963524-1720977441268.jpg)
A brush fire caused by youths setting off fireworks at a popular park in Nanaimo, B.C., the day the ban took effect has the city's mayor on edge about the province's vulnerability to wildfires as the season heats up.
Leonard Krog said Saturday that a group of young people gathered at Piper's Lagoon Park caused the blaze, which he said should be a "wake-up call" to citizens to pay attention to fire bans. And although his city has been spared so far, unlike communities in the B.C. interior, he says "our turn will no doubt come."
Krog said "some idiots" set off fireworks in the park and the brush fire damaged undergrowth in a "very sensitive ecological area."
He said setting off fireworks, which can't be bought without a license in Nanaimo, on the day the provincial fire ban came into effect "is the height of stupidity and arrogance."
"I am frankly, as mayor, disgusted that anybody of any age would think it appropriate, for whatever reason, to be that stupid in the middle of a hot, dry summer," he said.
Krog said Piper's Lagoon Park is a popular area and visiting the site of the blaze Saturday morning was "very upsetting."
"These bans and regulations aren't in place just because we love banning and regulating things. They're in place to protect public assets and unique public assets," he said.
"This may be the start of, you know, two or three months of hot, dry weather, and the fire at Piper's points out how quickly serious consequences can flow from a few acts of stupidity."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2024
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7009580.1724280437!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Issues remain significant' between parties just hours before potential railway stoppage: labour minister
Just hours ahead of an unprecedented railway stoppage in Canada, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon says issues between the parties involved 'remain significant.'
LIVE UPDATES DNC Day 3: Walz is expected to accept the party's nomination for vice-president
U.S. vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz and former U.S. president Bill Clinton will headline the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, the third day of the party’s choreographed rollout of a new candidate, Kamala Harris, and her pitch to voters.
The first person in Canada to legally access 'magic mushroom' therapy has died at age 56
A Saskatoon man who became a trailblazer for psilocybin-assisted therapy, using a psychedelic drug commonly known as magic mushrooms, has died at age 56.
Child's phone catches fire in Cambridge, Ont. movie theatre
A mother was left shaken after her 11-year-old's cellphone suddenly caught fire while he was in a movie theatre.
Babysitter pleads guilty to manslaughter for death of man she injured when he was a baby in 1984
A former babysitter pleaded guilty to manslaughter Wednesday for the 2019 death of a man she was accused of disabling as an infant 40 years ago and was sentenced to three years in prison, finally admitting that she hit him numerous times.
Kansas mom sentenced to life in prison after her 2-year-old son fatally shot her 4-year-old daughter
Kansas mom sentenced to life in prison after her 2-year-old son fatally shot her 4-year-old daughter
Taylor Swift calls cancellation of Vienna shows 'devastating,' explains silence
Two weeks after organizers scrubbed Taylor Swift's concerts in Vienna amid a foiled terror plot, the singer issued her first statement on the cancellation.
'Intimate partner violence' led to triple homicide in McCreary: Manitoba RCMP
A 'horrific act of intimate partner violence' is what led to a triple homicide in McCreary, Man. last week according to RCMP.
Being here 'means something': Why one federal party leader is attending the DNC
While the stakes for Canada may be high in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, only one Canadian federal party leader has actually attended either the Republican or Democratic national conventions.