"A 'cigarette burn' appeared on the roof of the car parked in the parking lot"

Damage Often Caused by Carelessly Discarded Cigarette Butts
"Punishments for Cigarette Butt-Related Offenses Should Be Strengthened," Netizens Criticize

A car owner reported damage caused by a cigarette butt that fell onto their car parked in an apartment parking lot. On the 5th, an online community called BobaeDream posted an article titled "Cigarette burn on car roof due to cigarette littering in apartment." The author, Mr. A, said, "On the morning of the 4th, I went out to run an errand and found cigarette ash on the front door window of my car," adding, "A cigarette that seemed to have been discarded not long ago was on the car roof."

Netizens are outraged over a car owner's story of damage caused by cigarette butts falling onto their car parked in an apartment parking lot.
[Photo by online community 'Bobae Dream']

Mr. A continued, "I took a photo and cleaned it up, but the discoloration had already occurred," and "I tried rubbing it with compound, but it was useless." He added, "I will report this to the management office and put up a notice in the elevator asking people not to do this." Netizens who read the story responded with comments such as, "The problem is throwing cigarette butts out of the window," "I've experienced this, and there's no way to catch it when it falls from above, so it just makes you angry," "It's almost like a potential arsonist; I hope they get legally punished," and "Can't they collect that cigarette and do a DNA test?"

Earlier in May, there was a report of a fire in a parking lot caused by a cigarette butt carelessly discarded by a passerby, which melted the bumper of a parked car. At a parking lot in Mabuk-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi Province, a fire broke out due to a cigarette butt, damaging some of the parked vehicles. Mr. B, who wrote about the incident, claimed, "One out of three passersby discarded a cigarette butt, and it seems the fire started from there," adding, "The fire melted part of the vehicle's bumper." In a video Mr. B shared at the time, a flicker of light can be seen from the cigarette butt discarded by a passerby. Mr. B said, "If it had spread, the fire could have reached the building," and "Considering the one-room apartments and officetels, there could have been significant casualties."

Earlier in May, a story was reported about a fire in a parking lot caused by a cigarette butt carelessly discarded by a passerby, which melted the bumpers of vehicles. At that time, a fire broke out in a parking lot in Mabuk-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi Province due to a cigarette butt, causing damage to some parked vehicles.
[Photo by online community 'BobaeDream']

Meanwhile, according to recent statistics released by the Korea Fire Insurance Association, as of the end of December 2023, there were 2,774 fires in 53,730 special buildings nationwide. The fire occurrence rate was 5.16%, a slight increase from 5.09% the previous year. In 2023, about 2,700 fires occurred in special buildings such as apartments and factories, with apartment fires accounting for 47%. Notably, fires in apartments resulted in significant casualties, requiring residents to exercise extra caution.

By building type, apartments had the highest number of fires at 1,316 cases (47%), followed by factories and buildings with 11 or more floors. The leading cause of fires was negligence (36.1%), followed by electrical causes (33.3%) and mechanical causes (13%). Among fires caused by negligence, carelessly discarded cigarette butts accounted for 30.4%, and cooking mistakes accounted for 18.3%.