Despite a record-breaking wildfire season that鈥檚 scorched more than 10,600 square kilometres of woodland across British Columbia, officials say some smokers continue to be careless about their cigarette butts.

A truck driver in Langford, B.C., was charged $575 on Thursday for tossing the remnants of his cigarette out the window -- a fine that the driver called 鈥渋nsane,鈥� according to the officer on the scene.

The fine may seem harsh, but Const. Alex Berube with the West Shore RCMP said he was simply working within the framework of the law. Last year the province got tougher on tossed butts and deemed the fines a wildfire-related offence.

In 2016, 153 people received tickets ranging from $307 to $1,150 related to the offence.

鈥淲e see this on a daily basis, even when we鈥檙e off duty,鈥� Berube told 麻豆影视 Channel on Friday.

Berube, who is also a media relations officer for the force, decided to share the experience online to raise awareness on how dangerous tossing a cigarette can be. He writing 鈥淐ig butt out the window is simply wrong and ILLEGAL.鈥� 

Berube said the driver told him it was the second time he鈥檚 been charged for tossing a cigarette butt.

鈥淭his is as serious as it gets,鈥� Berube said.

Manmade fires have kept B.C. firefighters busy this summer. In a single weekend in July, about 20 of 30 or so wildfires were believed to be caused by human activity, such as tossed cigarette butts and smoldering campfires, the BC Wildfire Service said at the time.

In Vancouver, the city has introduced a $500 fine for tossing 鈥渟moking material in a hazardous way.鈥�

B.C. has remained under a province-wide state of emergency since July 7 in what officials have called one of the worst wildfires seasons in the province鈥檚 history.

A municipal leader in the fire-ravaged Cariboo Regional District until 2018.