Good samaritans helped put out a fire that broke out around 9 a.m. on the 6700 block of Beaton Road on April 27.
The bystanders were driving down the street when they spotted hedges bordering a house engulfed in flames.
One bystander grabbed the garden hose and began to put out the fire, while the other ran to the Sooke fire department’s detachment on Otter Point Road to alert fire fighters.
Fire Chief Steve Sorensen was heading to a building inspection when he noticed the unusually large plume of smoke and turned around to investigate.
“We had a hedge on fire and it was spreading into a joining shed and car port, and they kept it in check until the fire truck got there,” he said.
“The shingles on the edge of the shed were just starting to melt, so if it got into that it would’ve took off pretty quick.”
As the bystanders continued to douse the fire with water, Sorensen removed a propane tank situated near the fire. When fire fighters arrived, the fire was reduced to a smoulder.
“The passerbys did a good job,” Sorensen said.
Nobody was in the house at the time of the incident, which coincidentally belongs to one of the fire department’s volunteer fire fighters.
Deputy Fire Chief Richard McLeod said the fire has been deemed suspicious as there was no reason for it to erupt.
He said the RCMP are currently investigating.
