A man has been slammed after revealing how he accidentally caused devastation to an elderly couple's home after carelessly flicking a cigarette out of his car window. While he admits the impact 'made him learn his lesson' and shares how he 'tried to help', his throwaway fag butt had disastrous consequences.
Writing on Reddit, the user writes: "I was driving through an old rundown neighborhood while smoking a cig on the way home from a friend's house. This was the side of town where the grass was definitely not green. It was an area I wasn't used to being around and GPS had me confused. I was at a stop sign by myself when I flicked my half-smoked cigarette out the window in the direction of the curb, thinking it would just go out."
Yet the cigarette didn't just fizzle out instead, it caught alight, damaging a nearby property. The user continued: "I spent about five minutes going down another road before I turned back to try to get to the main street, low and behold this entire yard was ablaze, and an elderly couple was trying to put it out with Tupperware bowls full of water, which was doing nothing to put the fire out."
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Watching the devastation unfold, the smoker then tried to help as he added: "I pulled over to help them, and called the fire department before the fire reached the house. I stayed around until the fire was completely put out, and one of the firemen picked up a cigarette butt in likeness to my own, saying it started the fire because the grass was so dry. They also indicated that this was a pretty common and dangerous way that fires start."
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Yet despite knowing it was his cigarette that started the fire, he didn't confess: "I didn't admit it was mine solely because I didn't want to face arson charges, but I felt so bad seeing the elderly couple stare at their burned yard in shock and anger. After making sure they were okay, I went on my way. I even stopped to get an ash cup before getting home. I constantly think about that day because I wouldn't have learned my lesson if I hadn't turned back."
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Despite staying to help the couple, the man has been slammed on the social media forum as others criticised his careless cigarette. One person replied: "Not sure why smokers feel it's everyone else's duty to pick up their butts. It seems they feel entitled to just flick them wherever they want and it's perfectly fine... it's not."
Another added: "You should have already had an ashtray in your car for not littering purposes. I'm a smoker too and there's just no excuse for this." "This makes me crazy! Not only are you thoughtless, but you’re committing a crime, littering. In case you and other smokers didn’t know this, the world is not your ashtray," said a third. A fourth shared: "You set an elderly couple's yard on fire and the result was that you just bought an ash cup for your car... that’s crazy. I don't know how you’re just cool with that".
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