PORT ALBERNI — Fire rescue crews and local Mounties are investigating what is believed to be another deliberately lit fire in the city.
Firefighters quickly got on top of a brush fire north of the Alberni Valley Multiplex, measuring around 10 square metres, in the early morning hours of Thursday, Aug. 19. It had spread quickly in tinder-dry brush and began to climb a tree.
Deputy fire chief Wes Patterson said they’re working on the assumption someone sparked the fire for the sake of creating a potentially dangerous situation.
“There’s no indication of any kind of encampment where we were, there was nobody around at the time. It’s concerning this is continuing to happen and I know the RCMP are taking it quite seriously.”
Crews returned to the scene later Thursday morning to check for hotspots while Alberni RCMP are investigating the situation.
Over the Canada Day weekend, Alberni crews were called out to six outdoor fires over a three-day span with police investigating some of the incidents.
“When we look at the devastation being caused in the Interior, yes we’re in what we call a rainforest but the lack of rain we’ve had this summer means that forest is quite dry and even with the spattering of rain we’ve had this last week, it’s not enough to eliminate the hazard around wildfires,” Patterson said.
Parksville Fire Department had to act quickly to prevent a tree fire from spreading further at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park on Wednesday, Aug. 18. Fire crews believe it was started by a discarded cigarette butt. (submitted photo/Parksville Fire Rescue)Meanwhile a quick response from Parksville Fire Department prevented a quickly growing fire at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park from getting out of control.
Crews were called early Wednesday, Aug. 18 to the park where they found a tree charred and smoldering at the base.
The tree and the overhead area were soaked to prevent any further spread.
The Coastal Fire Centre was called to attend, however local crews had the situation under control by the time they arrived.
Parksville assistant fire chief Mike Tisdelle told NanaimoNewsNOW a discarded cigarette found on scene is believed to have sparked the fire.
Nanaimo Fire Rescue have also attended to a number of brush fire calls this summer.
Over a three week period in late June and early July, local crews were called to 33 brush fires, with cigarette’s responsible for many of them.
Since July 1, Nanaimo Fire Rescue were paged out to over 80 bush fire calls across the City, compared to 17 over the same time period in 2020.
–with files from David Wiwchar, 93.3 The Peak
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