Wichita ? Smokers are on track to set a sorry record in Wichita this year: the highest number of grass fires started by carelessly discarded cigarettes.

Just 10 weeks into 2007, nearly 40 grass fires in the city are thought to have been sparked by cigarettes. There were 41 such fires documented in the city in all of 2005, and 79 in all of last year.

“We’ll probably surpass that at the rate we’re going,” said Bob Thompson, chief public education officer for the Wichita Fire Department.

The damage a tossed cigarette can wreak was brought painfully home in late February to Paul and Joyce Williams when fire swept their Wichita neighborhood. Several homes, including the one they owned for 35 years, were destroyed or damaged.

Paul Williams – a retired fire chief – said he was told by the Wichita Fire Department that a carelessly discarded cigarette started the blaze.

“I’ve been to a lot of fires where a smoker was smoking in bed. You think, ‘Aw, they should’ve known better than that,”‘ he said.

Wichita Fire Marshal Ed Bricknell said he doesn’t think all smokers realize the potential danger of flicking a cigarette out the window.

“Hundreds of cigarette butts are thrown out into grassy areas every day. But we don’t have hundreds of grass fires a day; we have a few,” he said. “Right now, the potential to have grass fires is high. Everything is dry. The wind is blowing. The grass is extremely dry. With the wind blowing, fires can and will happen.”

Wichita police officers are encouraged to watch for people who flick cigarettes out of cars during dry weather, said Gordon Bassham, police spokesman. A person caught tossing out a cigarette can be fined between $100 and $1,000.