Two fires near Nanaimo were reported Sunday. Kendall Hanson reports.
Firefighters from Island Timberlands are mopping up a fire on their private lands near Extension Road south of Nanaimo.
It was reported Sunday at 4 p.m. and the Coastal Fire Centre quickly dispatched three helicopters and six firefighters. They quickly got it under control. Its size reached .35 hectares.
Justin Leclerc lives in the area and reported some people riding ATVs not long before the fire started. “If guys don’t really care and all of a sudden there’s a bush fire and it goes crazy, goes wild, there’s a lot of people that are going to lose their homes.”
Another fire was reported Sunday evening, south west of Nanaimo, near Blackjack Forest Service Road. One helicopter was dropping water on it Monday morning. Fifteen firefighters were fighting the blaze.
It’s 1.02 hectares in size and it’s now 100 per cent contained. “We’re making very good progress,” said Morgan Boghean, a WildfTechnicianican with the Coastal Fire Centre.”We have hose around most of the fire. We have danger tree assessors assessing the area. They’re followed by our fallers that are making sure the area is safe for our crews to work in.”
It’s on private land held by the Snuneymuxw First Nation.
Boghean says the province can’t afford any more big fires so everybody has to be extra careful.
Both fires are suspected to be human caused.
Fire near Extension Road Courtesy Justin Leclerc
Kendall Hanson
