A house fire last night on Weldwood Rd., south of town, resulted in what Malaspina Fire Chief Dave Keiver is calling a total loss. At 7:30 Monday night 17 members from the Malaspina Fire Department were called to the home where they found the structure engulfed in flames.
“It was a total loss,” Malaspina Fire Chief Dave Keiver said. “When we arrived on scene we did a size-up, and based on what we saw during the initial assessment, compared to the equipment and manpower we had, we determined that the only course of action was to take a defensive approach to extinguishing the blaze.” Keiver said the occupant of the house heard the smoke detector go off and escaped uninjured. “The whole place was totally involved when we got there.”
Two additional fires that occurred south of town in mid-February within two days of one another are still under investigation. Both fires were also total loss situations. Firefighters from Malaspina Fire Department arrived on the scene of the first fire at the corner of Edlund and Kelly Creek roads at approximately 10:30 am Saturday, February 8.
Approximately 12 firefighters from the department responded to the second fire, located between Maris and McCausland roads, at 6 am on Monday, February 10.
