Fire of the Day: Man Roasted for Taking Selfie at Forest Fire
Fire-safety enthusiast Smokey the Bear is probably rolling in his grave, and Kevin Kwok is the reason. Why? Because Kowk, an Australian car owner, decided to snap a quick selfie at a forest fire and post it on Instagram. “There’s always time for a selfie” is basically the Earth motto at this point.
Responding to what he thought was his car on fire, Kwok stepped outside to see what was happening. He was relieved to discover that it wasn’t the car that was on fire, but rather a forest. “Crisis averted,” he wrote on Instagram.
Averted, indeed.
“This is not good,” he said in another Instagram video shot moments after the selfie. “This is a bit of a situation.”
That bit of a situation was one of the 52 bush fires in Australia last weekend, which required more than 1200 firefighters to put out, according to 9 News.
NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons had a simple message to witnesses checking on their cars forest fires: “Use some common sense. You should be thinking about your safety, not selfies."
Anyway, Kwok’s car is fine. Crisis averted.