Despite the occasional overcast day and drizzle of rain, fires are still cropping up all over the West Shore.
At approximately 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 19, Langford Fire Rescue responded to a bark mulch fire in front of Jack’s Place pub on Country Club Way on Bear Mountain. Inspector Chris Aubrey said the fire had likely been caused by a tossed lit cigarette.
Later that morning at 10 a.m. fire fighters responded to smoke coming from a large pile of bark mulch on an industrial site at the end of Langford parkway. Staff at the site attempted to pull the mulch pile apart with an excavator to extinguish the spontaneous combustion fire, resulting in a flare-up of flames when air reached the smouldering area within. Staff was able to extinguish the fire within two hours using their excavator and water trucks under supervision of the Langford fire department.
And last Saturday (Aug. 16) fire fighters responded to a second fire at the field beside Belmont Secondary, at Jacklin and Jenkins roads. Recent rainfall kept the blaze from spreading substantially, though the fire department is concerned that the fire may have been set deliberately. The first fire occurred Aug. 5, and blackened a substantial portion of the grass field.
acowan@goldstreamgazette.com