A house on Mudge Island burned down and spread to the woods, but the fire is now mainly out.
Helicopters and a Nanaimo Port Authority patrol vessel were deployed to Mudge Island this morning to deal with a structure fire that spread to the surrounding forest.
Scott Flemming, president of the Mudge Island Citizens Society, which formed to create a firefighting service on the island, said it was a house that burned down, but the occupants were not home at the time.
“The house is gone. There’s no injuries,” Flemming said. “The Mudge Island Citizens Society runs the fire trucks over here and they deployed all of their resources. The forestry service was called and they now have a four-man initial attack crew from B.C. Wildfire on the island and we had two helicopters with Bambi buckets and the fire is mainly out and we’ve moved into mop-up.”
Flemming said the initial fire set about 12 spot fires in the woods ranging from about nine square metres to more than 40 square metres in size, which were being dealt with by fire crews that were also going through the bush to ensure there were no other fires.
The fire is listed by B.C. Wildfire Service as a person-caused fire.
“We have very limited information at the moment, but there is a fire we’re responding to at the moment,” Dorothy Jakobsen, Coastal Fire Centre spokeswoman, earlier this morning. “It’s a spot fire. As far as we know it’s a structure. It’s been reported that the fire has spread to the surrounding grass and forest and so we have two helicopters bucketing at the moment and more resources en route.”
David Mailloux, Nanaimo Port Authority spokesman, said a Nanaimo Port Authority patrol vessel was sent to the island to assess the situation and assist with its firefighting equipment if possible.
Mudge Island is located between south Nanaimo and Gabriola Island.
B.C. Wildfire Service lists the fire danger at either extreme or high throughout the region.
READ ALSO: High risk of fire causes closure of Trans Canada Trail section in south Nanaimo
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