A bush fire on the bank behind a residence in the 1000 block of Nichol Road on Saturday evening was likely caused by the illegal use of fireworks, Chief Rob Girard said Monday.
“This fire was a huge concern to us,” he said in a statement, “luckily winds were from the North instead of the usual South. We certainly could have had a major interface fire that would have threatened houses on the Nichol Road bank.”
On the evening of May 1 at 9:42 pm, Revelstoke Fire Rescue Services responded to a 911 call of a bush fire on the bank behind a residence in the 1000 block of Nichol Road at about 9:42 pm on Saturday.
“Fire Crews arrived and found a large threatening fire on the steep bank behind a residence,” Girard said. “It wasn’t hard to miss with the large glow coming from behind the houses. The fire was isolated to that space and crews did a great job in actioning the fire considering the extremely steep terrain they had to work on. One of occupants of the house that backed onto the incident was injured after a fall while attempting to extinguish the fire with a bucket.”
He was transported to Queen Victoria Hospital by BC Ambulance and treated. Fire crews were able to confine the fire to 100′ x 75′ of the steep bank with no damage to nearby structures. No fire fighters were injured.
Girard said the the fire was caused by the illegal use of fireworks by adults. Fireworks are illegal in Revelstoke and their use is subject to a $1,000 fine.
