BX Swan Lake firefighters responded to a grass fire that broke out after a burn pile got out of control on BX Road Thursday afternoon.
Crews were dispatched just before 4 p.m. April 15. Upon arrival they found the burn pile had spread to neighbouring grassy areas and trees. They snuffed out the grass fire but stuck around to attend to the tree, which was still burning from the inside on a residential lot.
“A couple times it got sketchy,” said one neighbour who had an eye on the situation about 15 minutes before crews arrived. “It’s so dry.”
Meanwhile, on the south side of Vernon, a pickup truck was on fire in a driveway on Dallas Road. Vernon Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) took control of that incident, dousing a the fully involved blaze as it was beginning to spread along the ground of the property.
Earlier in the day, Coldstream and Lavington firefighters were called to reports of a wildfire on Learmouth Road. The fire turned out to be a burn pile that got out of control.
The causes of Thursday’s fires is unknown at this time, though local fire services have been alerting residents that this year’s relatively dry weather calls for heightened vigilance when burning.
Even when a controlled burn is done right, weather conditions can change in a hurry. As an example, VFRS had planned to do a controlled burn in the Foothills area yesterday, but the wildfire mitigation effort was cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
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