Firefighters on the Sunshine Coast have now responded to five fires this week, after a structure fire and brush fire May 2 and antoher brush fire May 3.
The Gibsons fire department was called out around 6:30 Thursday night after fire broke out in the 1100 block of Chaster Road, just beside Cedar Grove Elementary School and about 200 metres away from the department’s Cliff Mahlman Fire Hall.
Gibsons fire chief Rob Michael said the fire destroyed a mobile home on the property and damaged some outbuildings.
“The fire was fully extinguished and overhauled within three hours and was contained to the property,” he said.
There were no injuries and the cause remains under investigation.
Michael said firefighters had concerns Thursday night about people getting too close and he wants to remind residents and bystanders of the importance of clearing the area of a fire when instructed by firefighters on the scene
The other fire May 2 was on Middlepoint Road in Pender Harbour.
A permitted land-clearing burn spread and set fire to brush near a home.
Fire chief Don Murray said a passerby reported the situation around 4:30 p.m. and crews were able to extinguish the fire quickly, but there was some damage to the vinyl siding on a nearby home.
Just after 3 p.m. on May 3, firefighters in Roberts Creek responded to reports of a brush fire on a property in the 3500 block of Highway 101, just east of Roberts Creek Provincial Park. At least one member from the BC Wildfire Service's Sechelt Fire Base was also on scene.
The fire was quickly doused before it could spread. No details on the cause were available Friday afternoon.
The wildfire danger rating remains at low to moderate for the Sunshine Coast, but in the wake of this week’s incidents fire chiefs have been reminding people that conditions are very dry.
Pender Harbour follows the regulations set by the province through the Wildfire Service which, at least for now, is still allowing backyard burns of garden and yard waste up to one metre in height and two metres in diameter.
The window for backyard burning in Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) areas B, D, E and F and shíshálh Nation lands ended April 15. Backyard and land-clearing burns are prohibited year-round in Gibsons and Sechelt.
Land-clearing burns are allowed in SCRD rural areas with the appropriate permits, when the venting index is listed as “good” and other safety rules are followed.
