Efforts to pinpoint a cause continue after a Roberts Creek home was destroyed by fire June 18.
Firefighters were called out to the house on Hanbury Road around 4:45 in the morning, according to Roberts Creek Volunteer Fire Department Chief Pat Higgins.
He said despite the early hour, the department was able to respond quickly with 14 members and mutual aid from a Sechelt Fire Department crew, but the home – a log structure – was too far gone to save. The fire also destroyed a boat and a car parked beside the house. No one was injured.
Higgins said the Sechelt crew was able to use its water tender to help shuttle water from the nearest hydrant, which was close to a kilometre away. He said it’s a good example of the effectiveness of the mutual aid agreements between the Coast’s fire departments.
This was the third structure fire in Roberts Creek this year, and other local fire departments have also reported an unusually large number of structure fires over the past several months.
Speaking to Coast Reporter following a late April house fire in the Porpoise Bay area, Sechelt fire Chief Trevor Pike said many of the structure fires his department had been called out to were the result of the unsafe use of auxiliary heating sources during the unusually cold, wet winter and spring. He said people should keep safety top of mind when using devices like space heaters or wood stoves.
