By Dominic Abassi

UPDATE: Harewood wildfire fully contained; believed to be person-caused

Jul 18, 2017 | 12:05 AM

UPDATE — A wildfire in Harewood is fully contained and crews are now in the mop-up stage after fighting the blaze through the night.

Acting fire chief Tim Doyle told NanaimoNewsNOW the fire, in a wooded area between Harewood Mines Rd. and the Parkway, was the most significant wildfire their department has dealt with this season. After finding the location of the flames around 8:30 p.m. Monday night, Doyle said things were contained fairly quickly.

“Unfortunately there was a rekindle and the fire worked itself back up and we had to go back out at about 5:30 this (Tuesday) morning and deal with the fire again. We have the fire under control, crews should be wrapped up by mid-afternoon.”

Doyle said Nanaimo Fire responded with two engines and about eight firefighters. They were joined by three BC Wildfire Service members. Despite being listed at 1.6-hectares on the Wildfire Service’s web site around 12 a.m., Doyle said reports from the scene indicated the blaze was about 0.8-hectares at its peak. No structures or homes were threatened, he said.

While Doyle wouldn’t comment on a potential cause, Jessica Poustie with the Coastal Fire Centre said there was no lightning Monday night. “The probability would definitely be a human-caused fire,” Poustie said.

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Doyle said given the magnitude of the situation in B.C.’s interior, firefighters and the public are on edge right now. “It helps with early detection because people are calling in, immediately we’re getting multiple phone calls for any kind of fire which helps us get to incidents quicker and manage it before it gets out of control.”

If people see any signs of a fire, they’re urged to call it in immediately even if they’re unsure. “Early detection really is the key and if there isn’t an incident, we’d rather go out to a non-incident just to be sure then not get a report and have the incident grow,” Doyle said.

He said while he’s hopeful people are being vigilant about not having fires and throwing cigarette butts on the ground, there are likely some people still making careless mistakes. “I’m sure it’s just human nature and it’s probably happening in some cases because we’re still responding to those kind of incidents every day.”

EARLIER:

NANAIMO — Fire crews are dealing with what the BC Wildfire Service categorizes as a new, active wildfire in Nanaimo’s south end.

Nanaimo Fire Rescue said there would be no comment or statement until Tuesday morning but confirmed there is still an active situation.

The fire appeared on the BC Wildfire Service’s map of active wildfires and was estimated to be 1.6 hectares in size just after 12 a.m. Tuesday. The location shown is in a wooded area between Harewood Mines Rd. and the Parkway.

Crews were called out to the Harewood area just after 9 p.m. Monday night and social media posts showed fire trucks blocking off Harewood Mines Rd. near the Hwy. 19 overpass.

Pictures shared in Nanaimo forums showed smoke visible from several areas of town and the burning could be smelled in the Jingle Pot Rd. area.

The Coastal Fire Centre has not answered a request for information.

— Note to readers: This story will be updated as soon as new details become available.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi