Police are restricting pedestrian and vehicle traffic to JLCrowe Secondary School on Wednesday following a wildfire on a bench above the facility the day before.
Sgt. Mike Wicentowich issued the following information:
“Fire personnel and equipment will be staged and operating on Hospital Bench Road between the hospital and high school. Police will begin restricting pedestrian and vehicle traffic to JL Crowe High School beginning at 5:30 a.m. as the fire suppression effort will be commencing around this time. Part of the high school parking lot will be used as a staging area. The RCMP will allow high school staff and school buses to enter through the barricaded entrance to the high school. The RCMP ask parents to drop students off away from the restricted area. Students can walk to the high school using the sidewalks. This will allow the fire suppression teams to operate safely in the area without a overwhelming influx of vehicle traffic. The vehicle restrictions will continue throughout the day. Traffic to the hospital will not be restricted but the RCMP ask the public to remain out of the area in order that the fire suppression team may operate at full capacity. Please remain out of the forested area near the fire and off the trails leading to the area of the fire. These trails are well known, have been marked, and will be monitored. The RCMP will be monitoring the area for anyone who may be interfering with the fire suppression efforts.”
On September 11 at approximately 4:45 pm, a wildfire was ignited in the forested area behind the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital, on 1200 Hospital Bench Road, in Trail.
First responders arrived within minutes.
Fire suppression began approximately 20 minutes after the fire was reported. The cause of the fire is currently undetermined; however, an investigation by police and fire investigators has commenced and will continue Wednesday. Fire suppression and containment will also continue.
