Howard the Gnome was close enough to catch a glimpse of a few spot fires at Galey Farms on Monday night, but the eight-metre-tall statue emerged unscathed, says owner Rob Galey.
Galey said a high-tension line from one of the B.C. Hydro towers that run through the Blenkinsop Road property came down when it was clipped by a falling cottonwood tree about 6:30 p.m.
That led to some small, scattered fires, none bigger than a little over a metre, he said.
“They were just smouldering fires — there weren’t big flames,” Galey said. “We couldn’t do a lot at first because there was a live wire.
“We all kept back until Hydro shut everything down.”
There were a few sparks in the vicinity of the giant gnome, he said.
“Howard just got a good view,” Galey said with a laugh. “It’s all about Howard — he’s the treasure I didn’t want hurt.”
Saanich firefighters made sure everything was extinguished and cleared the scene by about 9:30 p.m., he said.
The outsized Howard is one of several signature attractions at the farm, where Galey said staff is going “full bore” in preparation for the annual Pumpkinfest that begins Sept. 30 and continues until Halloween.
