KYTX CBS 19 Tyler Longview News Weather SportsTexas drivers spark fires with cigarette littering

Texas drivers spark fires with cigarette littering

TYLER (KYTX) --  It's hard to imagine during wildfire season why anyone would toss a cigarette butt out of a car. But there is something you can do to put a stop to the burning problem.

Texas drivers have gotten into a bad and dangerous habit lately. Cigarettes litter the side of roadways in the city that's led to fiery scenes.

"It made me very angry," Austin resident Michelle McGovern said. "There are hundreds of homes that have burned in the last couple of weeks and here's someone carelessly perhaps causing the same kind of thing."

Last week, McGovern spotted a cigarette flicker on her way to work. 

"I reported that that person threw a cigarette butt out of their car," she said. She reported it by going to the Don't Mess With Texas web site. "It asks for the license number and make of the vehicle and what the person was doing, what time."

Several fires since Labor Day have been sparked by discarded cigarettes.

"I find it extremely odd that with the fires recently in Bastrop and the drought conditions that we're currently under, that people are still showing a blatant disregard for the safety of others," McGovern said.

As long as there is a fire danger police will keep their zero tolerance for cigarette flickers. McGovern and others who report the crime say they feel empowered to do something about this bad habit.

"...People are watching. We care about each other here in Austin. And so other people see you doing that and really would want you to stop."

And police say with more community involvement, people reporting any type of crime they see could help make Texas a safer place to live.

Snapping pictures and reporting an offender can actually land a case in court. The Texas Department of Transportation sends warnings to offenders.