Langford Fire Rescue contained a patio fire from igniting a Weaver Place home Monday morning.
Fire broke out about 1:30 a.m. and was called in by a Happy Valley Road neighbour who smelled smoke.
The occupant told Langford fire inspectors that hot wood chips from a smoker machine were laid out on a wooden board on the wooden deck after smoking meats.
“It was a perfectly square burn hole, it was like a branding iron through the deck,” said Capt. Chris Aubrey. He estimated damage at $5,000.
Langford fire inspectors want to remind people not to place smoker machines or similar devices on wooden surfaces and to store hot woodchips in a metal bucket soaked in water.
“Certainly you want to place a smoker in an area without combustables — on a cement patio away from things that burn,” Aubrey said.
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