Pooping Bicyclist Caused 73-Acre Wildfire, May Have To Pay Restitution

No good deed goes unpunished, even if the “good deed” was a poor idea. A cyclist in the Boise, Idaho, foothills has been blamed for causing a major wildfire after he stopped to defecate on the lonely trail he was trekking. Unfortunately, he decided to burn the toilet paper he used, “in order not to litter,” but fragments of the burning toilet tissue set alight the scorched land and were quickly picked up by the wind.

Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Carrie Bilbao said the man could not hold it in any longer and stopped to defecate in a ravine. He used toilet paper, burned it, then buried it. He did not realize that a burning piece of toilet paper had blown in the wind, and he set off on the next part of his journey. Bilbao understood that nature calls sometimes.

“I guess when you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go. We’ve had this before, actually – it doesn’t happen very often – but when people have to go, um, they will often burn their toilet paper just as kind of an environmental concern, to not litter, basically, but in these fuel types, it’s not a good idea.”

The fuel type she is referring to is the very dry prairie type grass that is very flammable in a dry hot summer. Some people believe that wild animals will track the scent of human waste to the human, which is possible, so they burn and/or bury their waste and byproducts, which isn’t a bad idea, but not under these climate circumstances.

The Hull Fire was reported at about 1:30 p.m. by numerous people off 8th Street in the Hulls Gulch area near Boise. Emergency responders called in ground and air resources to extinguish the flames, which spread to 73 acres. The fire was contained by 8 p.m. The cost of fighting such a fire, particularly with aerial resources, may be staggering – thousands upon thousands of dollars. Fortunately, nobody was injured in the roaring blaze.

The man’s name has not been released, but he apparently has more than an environmental conscience – he came forward on his own and told the Bureau of Land Management that he believed he was responsible for the blaze. He took them to the area where he had defecated, and evidence was found there that linked him to the fire – though what evidence has not been stated.

He did receive a citation for starting a fire, but police have not decided yet whether they will formally charge him with a crime or hold him responsible for what is bound to be a staggering firefighting cost.

[photo by cdanews]