We’ve all been there, out on our own on a long ride and nature calls. Some of us try to hold it in until the next available restroom, some of us risk it in the woods and hope no-one passes by – what most of us don’t do is start a 73 acre wildfire.

Unfortunately, a mountain biker in Idaho ended up doing just that last Wednesday. CBS News reports that, following an al fresco trip to the bathroom, he tried to do his bit for the environment and burn his toilet paper to dispose of it. This backfired spectacularly.

Idaho has an arid climate with an average of eight milimetres of rainfall in July. A small ember got quickly out of hand and before he knew it a full wildfire took hold. The fire spread quickly and took six and a half hours to put out.

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Thankfully the fire was controlled by local authorities and calm conditions stopped it from spreading too far. No one was hurt and no buildings were damaged.

The mountain biker admitted his mistake and immediately came forward. He has not been named but will have to pay a $250 (£160) fine and may have to pay firefighting costs.

While we do commend the cyclist for actually taking toilet paper on a ride with him, maybe next time he’ll just try to hold it in.

Maybe we should add a fire extinguisher to this…