A forest fire in West Sechelt spanning a hectare in size was knocked down before it got out of control on May 12.

A total of 17 firefighters from the Coastal Fire Centre responded to the blaze at 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

“The fire was near West Sechelt Mines about seven km as the crow flies northwest of Sechelt,” said fire information officer Marg Drysdale.

Crews doused the flames from the ground and also used a helicopter to combat the fire.

In the end the fire was dubbed “essentially out.”

“They’ll go back every now and again to make sure nothing comes back up, there’s no holdovers. So they’ll do what’s called cold trailing where they’ll literally go out and put their hands on the ground to see if they can find any hot spots,” Drysdale said, noting fire can go underground. “Quite a few fires will actually kick back up if it’s on a holdover. Sometimes a hold over will even be over a winter.”

After crews revisit the site a few times without finding any hotspots the Coastal Fire Centre will label the fire officially out.

Although how the blaze started has not been determined yet, Drysdale said it was “human caused” as there was no lightening in the area. She said that cause could have been deliberate or accidental, such as debris left in the area that focused the sun’s rays.

Currently the Coast is in a drying, warming trend that can increase the chances of forest fires, however Drysdale notes a fire can happen at any time of year.

She encourages homeowners to “fire smart” their homes by following the fire smart manual available at www.bcwildfire.ca.

If you see a wildfire call 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on your cell phone.