Video of the fire that was sparked behind Belmont Secondary School (Video: Westhill’s resident)
Officials are investigating after a large brush fire was sparked in the woods behind Belmont Secondary School Sunday afternoon.
Crews were called to the scene, that was off Alouette Drive, just after 2 p.m. and arrived at a large 40 by 40-foot fire that had spread to cedar trees and other debris on the ground
“It was pretty surprising the intensity… the flames reached around 80 feet up into the trees,” said Lance Caven, assistant Langford Fire Chief.
The fire that was started behind Belmont Secondary School (Photo: Langford Fire Rescue)
Langford Fire says they called in the RCMP to help with the investigation, and that witnesses saw kids leaving the scene right before the fire grew.
They say it appears to have been caused by human activity.
Caven spotted plumes of smoke on his approach and called in all three of Langford’s stations to assist. They were able to knock down the flames quickly.
“For sure [it could have been worse] that’s why we sent as many resources as we did… we also had to make sure we got all hot spots, and it’s not easy to spray water up the tree.. we used class A foam to soak up ground and wood.”
Crews putting out a brush fire near Belmont Secondary School Sunday (Photo: Rebecca Ehle King)
Caven adds that the situation is a good reminder of the dry conditions.
“Even though everything looks nice and green… I was actually Suprised at the intensity at this time of the year… and we are approaching a dry stretch so we are asking people to stay vigilant.”
Anyone with information on the fire is asked to contact the West Shore RCMP at (250) 474-2264 or Crime Stoppers.
Smoke seen rising from the fire (Photo: Rebecca Ehle King)
More to come
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