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Near miss for Metchosin home

A Metchosin house had a close call Monday after a nearby open-air outbuilding burnt to the ground.
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A charred motorcycle pokes through the wreckage of a building that burned to the ground on Monday in Metchosin.

A Metchosin house had a close call Monday after a nearby open-air outbuilding burnt to the ground.

Neighbours reported seeing an orange glow early Sept. 5. Metchosin volunteer firefighters arrived on scene around 5:30 a.m. to a property on Happy Valley Road near Brookview Drive. A Langford crew also arrived to lend a hand.

The outbuilding was engulfed in flames and falling embers had lit a grass fire that burned to within two feet of the deck of the main house.

“(The outbuilding) had been burning for quite a while,” said fire Chief Stephanie Dunlop.

The building was in a difficult location, at the top of a hill and at the end of a 1,500 foot driveway with sharp twists and turns.

To bring water to the building, firefighters used a relay pumping technique. A Langford Fire Rescue engine was at a hydrant on Happy Valley Road and pumped the water into an engine about half way up the driveway. Then the water was pumped through two more engines before it reached the fire.

It took about two hours to fully extinguish the fire. It’s unclear what started the blaze.

No one was injured and the owners of the house were not home at the time.

reporter@goldstreamgazette.com