It was a close call for the forests on Grouse Mountain Friday night after an intense brush fire threatened to spread out of control.
Grouse Mountain resort staff noticed the fire burning about 100 metres north of the parking lot next to Grouse Grind trailhead and called 9-1-1 just after 11 p.m. District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services members were on the scene quickly but faced a formidable fire.
“When the first crew arrived, they came upon a fire that was probably 40 feet by 40 feet with 15-foot flames and the intensity was growing,” said assistant fire chief Mike Cairns.
Firefighters dragged hoses up to the site, which was clear cut by BC Hydro last year to protect power lines, and knocked down the flames. “This was real close. It was just getting to the edge of the forest area again and there was a lot of very dry, thin material,” he said.
“Even with five to 10 more minutes without getting water on it, it would have been up the side of the mountain quite rapidly and we probably wouldn’t have been able to get control of it if we didn’t get at it when we did.”
In the firefighters’ favour was that district crews, along with Grouse Mountain staff, Metro Vancouver firefighters and the B.C. Wildfire Management Branch, had held training sessions meant to address fires of this type.
Cairns said the fire was caused by humans though the exact cause will likely remain unknown. “Smoking material would be the most likely. There was no evidence of campfires or anything like that. Cigarettes butts are the No. 1 cause, especially in this area,” he said.
The North Shore’s three fire departments responded to at least seven other brush fires over the weekend, most at trailheads and off roadways where smokers tend to flick their butts.
The fires aren’t always as threatening as Friday’s but they needlessly tie up resources, Cairns said. And a prolonged dry spell means the risks posed by even small fires grows exponentially.
“These are conditions that we generally start seeing in late July or early August. If things continue the way they’re forecast, we’ll be at extreme (fire danger rating) early in the summer.”
