No one was injured, but fire completely destroyed a house south of Nadu Road last week.
Volunteer firefighters from Masset got the call from a neighbour at about 4 a.m. last Wednesday, when the fire was already well underway.
It seems no one was in the home at the time.
“By the time we got there, the house was gone,” says Fire Chief Sylvan Daugert.
“There was no question of saving anything.”
After surveying the fire, most of the Masset crew returned home.
Daugert stayed on scene until 6 a.m. just to make sure it didn’t spread.
Daugert said it’s always difficult to fight house fire without a hydrant nearby.
“We have 1,000 gallons of water in the truck, and that’s not going to put out a fire in its later stages.”
While Masset’s pumper truck does carry equipment for drawing water from lakes, rivers, and other natural sources, Daugert said doing so takes time.
In Tow Hill, residents have a pump and water bladder that firefighters can use to draw water from the Sangan River and recharge their trucks.
But logistically, Daugert said it’s still very time-intensive to fight a fire that way.
Nadu Road is the dividing line for the Masset and Port Clements fire departments, but it wasn’t clear when the call came in that the fire was actually south of the road, on Port Clements’ side.v
Regardless, Daugert said it’s a good thing and part of the nature of Haida Gwaii that municipalities such as Masset and Port Clements allow their firefighters to travel so far to fight fires.
“The Village of Masset has been incredibly generous,” he said.
“Other municipalities look at it purely as a cost.”
