Nanaimo Fire Rescue crews attended a grass fire along the E&N Rail line by Northfield Rd. on Wednesday afternoon. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

GRASS FIRE

Nanaimo firefighters tackle grass fire along E&N Rail line

Aug 26, 2020 | 1:43 PM

NANAIMO — A sizeable grass fire kept firefighters busy along the Island Hwy. Wednesday afternoon.

Reports came in around 1 p.m of smoke along the E&N Rail line, parallel to the highway.

Three engines fought the smoldering fire which stretched from Dorman Rd., south to the highway intersection with Northfield Rd.

“We quickly attacked a portion of the fire we could get to with enough water and had two more engines respond for manpower and to attack the fire from the north and south ends,” Capt. Mark Walker told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Firefighters initially doused the area before working to clean up any hotspots.

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The cause of the fire is not known, however crews on scene said wind was a factor in spreading the fire so far.

Walker said train tracks can be hotspots for grass fires with faulty brake boxes on passing trains helping ignite grass around the track. Walker added it is not clear if that was the case here.

Traffic remained slow along the highway, however the road remained open as firefighters set up on nearby McCullough Rd.

As of Tuesday, Aug. 25, Nanaimo Fire Rescue had responded to 113 human-caused fires in Nanaimo, just below average when compared to recent years.

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