iN NUMBERS: How do people actually ignite wildfires in B.C.

Fires that aren’t caused by lightning end up in the human cause category, which understandably drives people to look for a culprit, someone to blame.

When all the facts aren’t in you might think it’s a firebug, neglectful smoker or ignorant camper roasting marshmallows over an illegal campfire.

The BC Wildfire Service released a detailed breakdown of how humans actually cause fires averaged out over the past 10 years.

Here are the numbers:

• 60: Per cent of wildfires are caused by lightning.
• 0.8: Per cent of wildfires are caused by smoking substances like cigarettes.
• 3.8: Per cent of wildfires are caused by arson or they’re deemed suspicious.
• 8.1: Per cent of wildfires are caused by larger open fires for things like agriculture.
• 6.5: Per cent of wildfires are caused by campfires.
• 3.9: Per cent of wildfires are caused by vehicles.
• 3: Per cent of wildfires are caused by electrical infrastructure or distribution.
• 2.1: Per cent of wildfires are caused by equipment use.
• 1.1: Per cent of wildfires are caused by railroad activities.
• 3.5: Per cent of wildfires are caused by miscellaneous human activities.
• 7.1: Per cent of wildfires have an undetermined cause.
• 18: Of the active wildfires in the province were caused by humans.
• 191,865: Hectares burned in the Elephant Hill wildfire in 2017, which was most likely caused by smoking materials.
• 6.5: Times larger. That’s how much bigger human caused fires are compared to lightning caused fires, according to this study from the U.S.