Hard work by firefighters in the Lund area on October 8 resulted in a wildfire being brought under control with no threat to houses in the region.
According to qathet Regional District manager of emergency services Ryan Thoms, the fire was reported during the morning on Sarah Point Road.
“There was a rapid response by the Northside Volunteer Fire Department,” said Thoms. “The fire was on private property covering about a hectare and a half on a property that has been logged. There was a lot of slash and no houses were involved.”
Thoms said it was a windy day and there was a fair bit of slash lined up on a slope so it was “quite an intense fire,” which would be expected with the windy conditions, and the slash, with a lot of cedar.
“It was a great response by the Northside fire department, supported by the BC Wildfire Service that came out and provided assistance,” said Thoms. “The effort was also supported by the RCMP, keeping the road safe around the area.”
Thoms said it was determined that there were not any houses at risk but it was a hot fire given the conditions, so the priority was to make sure the road was okay and the people who needed to go through could do so.
He said that he was aware of some commentary on social media so the emergency service used the community notification system to let people know there wasn’t any evacuation alert and the fire service was not requesting that.
“We just wanted people to stay away so all the fire trucks could keep operating and keep people safe,” said Thoms. “We are lucky for the time of year. It could have been tougher in the hotter summer. We were really happy to see rain. There’s still lots of slash on the hill there and the fire will probably smoulder away for a little bit.”
Thoms said that the specific cause of the fire was unknown but it is believed to have been human-caused. He said an investigation is pending, with the Northside fire department and wildfire service being involved. There are no burning bylaws in place at the fire location so the provincial Wildfire Act is the regulation that is in place for this fire, to see if there is a compliance issue with the regulations.
“Here on the coast, slash can be a real challenge and something that can be a real safety concern,” said Thoms. “It’s never great to see a slash fire near homes.”
qathet Regional District Electoral Area A director Jason Lennox said the response and effort by BC Wildfire crews and and Northside volunteer firefighters was amazing and that they worked tirelessly to control and extinguish a fast-moving slash fire that was driven by high winds.
“They protected us from a potential disaster,” said Lennox. “The community totally admires the efforts these folks put out. We listened the entire evening as they shuttled water back and forth.
“There was a lot of worry because the wind was driving hard that day. The firefighters don’t get thanked enough.”
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