Crews from North Cedar and Cranberry volunteer fire departments were called out to a fire on Brightman Road in Cedar on Monday afternoon. (CHRIS BUSH/The News Bulletin)

Crews from North Cedar and Cranberry volunteer fire departments were called out to a fire on Brightman Road in Cedar on Monday afternoon. (CHRIS BUSH/The News Bulletin)

Farm fields in Nanaimo catch fire after explosion

Crews from North Cedar and Cranberry volunteer fire departments called to Brightman Road on Monday

  • Jun. 10, 2019 12:00 a.m.

Two fire departments were called out to a fire at a farm in Nanaimo this afternoon.

Crews from North Cedar and Cranberry volunteer fire departments were called out to the 1500 block of Brightman Road in Cedar at about 3:15 p.m.

Personnel on scene said neighbours reported hearing an explosion, and firefighters believe the blaze started with an electrical fire in a pump house before spreading to hay fields.

Neighbour Max Ebert and his friend Isaac Johnson smelled and saw smoke as they were coming up the drive.

“He raced into the field, because I didn’t have the right shoes on, and he saw the fire, and he said, ‘your field’s on fire,’ and at first I didn’t really believe him,” Ebert said. “And then I came down and it was on fire and it was pretty crazy.”

Max’s brother Simon said the explosion was from a propane tank in the structure that caught fire.

“There used to be a shed right there, but that’s just gone,” Johnson said.

There were no reports of injuries.


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