An ill-conceived and reckless romantic gesture on a Tofino beach has sparked outrage on social media.
Three videos posted to TikTok on Monday with the caption sa国际传媒楬e wanted to do something cute to show how much he loves me then did this,sa国际传媒� show a man and woman standing on Chesterman Beach in the middle of a heart seemingly made out of paper towels.
The man then drops a flaming torch onto the top of the heart and the couple embrace as the papers ignite, surrounding them in fire and dark smoke.
The pair are then seen putting the heart-shaped fire out by kicking sand onto the flames as the man comments on the sa国际传媒渂lack smokesa国际传媒� surrounding them. No water buckets can be seen in the videos.
Another video of the same scene shows the man drinking a Budweiser before digging the heart shape in the sand with his hands and then cuts to the paper towels placed in the indents and the man holding a stick wrapped in paper for a makeshift torch.
sa国际传媒淲ould you do anything for the love of your life? Even if things arensa国际传媒檛 always perfect?sa国际传媒� the caption reads. sa国际传媒淏ecause I would.sa国际传媒�
The three TikTok videos have over 4.7 million views combined and over 487,000 likes. The account that posted them has 21,000 followers.
The videos remained up on Wednesday with the vast majority of their over 2,000 comments lambasting the couple and expressing shock and anger over the large fire being purposely set during a heavily publicized fire ban and the provincesa国际传媒檚 worst wildfire season on record.
sa国际传媒淵ou guys gotta be kidding me, I hope you get fined for this stunt during a fire ban,sa国际传媒� wrote one commenter.
sa国际传媒淎bsolute disrespect. Ignorance at its finest,sa国际传媒� wrote another.
sa国际传媒淚 hope you get a fine for this. This is not cute, itsa国际传媒檚 so irresponsible and disrespectful to the local community,sa国际传媒� wrote another.
Others pointed out that a wildfire near Port Alberni blocked access to the community as and the damage done by the blaze continues to cause closures as
sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 a fire ban for a reason, donsa国际传媒檛 promote this when our community was cut off for WEEKS due to a fire. Disrespectful at best,sa国际传媒� wrote a commenter.
sa国际传媒淪he literally had to drive through the aftermath of the Alberni forest fire to get to Tofino,sa国际传媒� wrote another.
Many of the comments note that Tofino is currently under Stage 3 water restrictions due to an ongoing and unprecedented drought.
During a t, the districtsa国际传媒檚 Director of Infrastructure and Public Works Aaron Rodgers suggested sa国际传媒渁 large fire at any time in any summer, let alone this summer, would put us immediately into Stage 4.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淩eminder that there is currently a fire ban across the entire province of B.C. and a severe drought and water shortage in Tofino specifically,sa国际传媒� wrote a TikTok commenter.
sa国际传媒淭his is soooo tone deaf. Did you not see the massive signs saying Tofino is in a water restriction and a fire ban currently?,sa国际传媒� wrote another.
sa国际传媒淰isits a remote population during a DROUGHT and PUBLICIZED WATER SHORTAGE only to create the most bootleg fire using paper??sa国际传媒� wrote another.
Provincial law states that sa国际传媒淎nyone found in contravention of a fire prohibition may be fined up to $1,150. If your fire escapes and results in a wildfire, you may be fined anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million and be sentenced to one year in prison.sa国际传媒�
The video also caught the ire of Tofino resident and TikToker Hannah Tarrant.
sa国际传媒淎s a person who lives in Tofino full time, this is why we say we hate the tourists. You guys treat our beautiful bit of paradise like garbage,sa国际传媒� Tarrant commented.
Tarrant also posted a response to her own TikTok page, which has over 101,000 followers.
sa国际传媒淭his is not cute. This happened in Tofino B.C. during an all-summer fire ban and level 3 water restrictions,sa国际传媒� Tarrant said in her response video.
sa国际传媒淧lease guys, all Isa国际传媒檓 asking for anyone who sees this video is that you donsa国际传媒檛 do this without proper research. Honestly, this put the whole town at risk.sa国际传媒�
Tofino mayor Dan Law told the Westerly News there are no excuses for setting fires during the current ban.
sa国际传媒淚f more people do stuff like this theysa国际传媒檙e going to regret it. Thatsa国际传媒檚 for sure. Anybody, anywhere in B.C. that is lighting fires outside is just being completely irresponsible. The reason the ban is on and the fines are so high is because the potential for massive, catastripohic destruction is so high,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭his is the biggest wildfire season B.C. has ever had by farsa国际传媒eople that can read the news and be anywhere in B.C. and still light fires outside, I would say itsa国际传媒檚 inexcusable.sa国际传媒�
He added that Tofino has put sa国际传媒渃onsiderable energy into addressing beach firessa国际传媒� and has seen success in cutting down on illegal flames.
sa国际传媒淲e have seen vast improvements,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭he vast majority of people on the beach are using propane rings or not having fires at all.sa国际传媒�
He noted the district has an RCMP Reservist as well as a bylaw enforcement team on patrol.
sa国际传媒淥ur fines are quite high. So, people that do make the mistake of having a fire on the beach, or anywhere in Tofino are potentially facing hefty fines and theysa国际传媒檙e not going to be able to get out of it,sa国际传媒� he said.
He declined to speculate on whether the TikTokers who set the fire will be caught, but noted that they recorded and posted their behaviour.
sa国际传媒淚 can say that if people are going to do stupid, illegal things, Isa国际传媒檓 kind of glad they filmed themselves in the act. It does certainly help enforcement,sa国际传媒� he said.
with @Ashley the vibe is burn down the whole town.
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