A multi-structure fire which crews fought Sunday afternoon, June 21, posed a much larger threat, said a spokesperson for Powell River Fire Rescue.
Terry Peters, assistant chief of the city’s fire department, told the Peak that he credits the quick thinking of his crews to stop the fire from spreading into the forest.
“When I look at it, we averted a disaster there,” Peters said. “We were extremely lucky. If the crews didn’t do what they did there would have had to be some evacuations.”
Reports of the backyard blaze in the 5200 block of Manson Avenue came into the fire department at about 3 pm on Sunday.
By the time first responders arrived two structures were on fire and the blaze was compromising the house, Peters said. When first responders saw that some of the home’s trees were on fire, they immediately focused attention on stopping its spread.
“It was so close,” said Peters. “It was coming up a tree and it was just about to candle into the tree and at that point we may not have been able to stop it.”
The department has added one extra firefighter over the summer months and two auxiliary members who lived nearby also attended. Peters said that they managed to get it right away and “their timing was impeccable.”
Peters said that the tinder dry conditions in the area makes fires of this nature particularly dangerous and with the amount of forests around Powell River urban interface fires pose a great threat.
After the bush fire was knocked down, then crews focused on putting out the structure fire. Peters reports that it took a couple of hours to mop the fire up.
Roads around the area were blocked and traffic control was put into place. Despite the temporary closure, some drivers tried to cross through anyway which damaged fire equipment, Peters added.
“We don’t take these measures lightly,” he said, explaining that they closed the roads to run water lines across it and to ensure the safety of his crews and the public.
