Firefighters from Sahtlam and Lake Cowichan departments were called out about 8 a.m. last Thursday morning to fight a blaze in the bush near Cowichan River Provincial Park.
Riverbottom Road was crowded with fire trucks as crews started preparations to haul water out to the site, which was situated on Island Timberlands land.
According to Dorothy Jacobsen of the BC Coastal Fire Centre, the fire was about half a hectare in size.
Sahtlam fire chief Randy Busch said it took roughly 11 hours to put out.
“We shut the water off [Thursday] night just after 7 p.m. We basically had it out at that point and went back the next day and found some hot spots which is normal, so we dealt with those,” said the chief. His crew stood down on Friday afternoon.
The Island Timberlands crew remained, however.
SEE RELATED: Campfire ban lifted for Coastal Fire Centre
“It’s their land,” he said. “We supplied water for them on the Friday and they went back in and they hit the hot spots.”
Busch gave credit to the Island Timberlands crew for doing much of the mop up work.
“It was left in their hands and what they were going to do is they have a water truck with a pump they were going to bring out for the weekend and have a couple people man that truck and they were just going to watch for hot spots throughout the weekend and of course, with the rain, that was enough to keep it from going.”
The chief said the cause of the fire has not yet been determined but an investigation is taking place.
“I would suggest that it would be the RCMP that may be able to comment on that,” Busch said.
Some campers from the provincial park, having heard about the fire, made an early departure, just in case.
Smoke hung in the air among the many trees in the area, and a strong smoke smell was noticeable as far away as Gibbins Road, eliciting many comments from area residents on Facebook, who had noticed it upon arising.
The campfire ban in the Coastal Fire Centre was lifted on Sept. 11.
— With files from Lexi Bainas
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