Chilliwack fire breaks out at structure, turns into wildfire
Posted July 21, 2023 12:17 pm.
Last Updated July 21, 2023 12:57 pm.
Dozens of firefighters were in Chilliwack Thursday evening after a fire erupted at a structure on a local property and then spread into a wildfire.
According to the Chilliwack Fire Department, officers were called to a fire at an outbuilding in the area along Chilliwack Lake Road near Bridlewood Park around 5:15 p.m.
Upon arrival, firefighters spotted a “large volume of fire and heavy black smoke coming from a large outbuilding on the property.”
Fire up past our house !
Promontory , Chilliwack .
If the media can use it, go ahead pic.twitter.com/AMaIw29WWo
— Justin Cathcart (@JustinC99) July 21, 2023
Although crews quickly arrived to try and get the structure fire under control, investigators say it ended up spreading up the slope above the property and becoming a wildfire.
“It’s believed that some embers from that structure fire landed upslope in the forested area and started a wildfire that grew to about 0.2 hectares in size,” Chris Wilson, the assistant fire chief and emergency program co-ordinator with the City of Chilliwack, explained.
Crews from the BC Wildfire Service were then called in to help tackle the expanded flames.
“The efforts of Chilliwack fire crews deploying water down onto the fire from Bridle Ridge Crescent combined with helicopter water drops and ground crews from BCWS successfully contained the fire, preventing further spread upslope towards homes on Bridle Ridge Crescent,” a news release reads.
Fire crews were able to get the fire down, and are still on site Friday to extinguish hot spots.
“There may be a little bit of smoke in smoldering areas but we were able to establish a very hard perimeter around the fire with digging down to the dirt area and perimeter lines to keep the area wet,” Wilson said.
“So, there may still be some warm ground there we are keeping a close eye as mentioned, but we’re quite confident that there will be no extension beyond that original fire perimeter.”
He adds that Chilliwack, just the like the majority of the province, has seen low levels of rainfall and notes that areas are “extremely dry.”
“Be utilizing extreme caution when either recreating or living in our city and taking proper precautions as overall risk is certainly elevated this season,” he added.
No one was hurt in the blaze, crews note.
