A fire ravaged a tent and its belongings and also scorched nearby trees in Mark's Nature Park in Parksville. The Finholm St. park will be closed for a few days, the City of Parksville announced. (Parksville Fire Rescue)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

park closure

Tent fire closes Parksville’s Mark’s Nature Park

Nov 26, 2020 | 1:55 PM

PARKSIVLLE — A tent fire has closed a popular Parksville park for several days.

Parksville Fire Rescue crews arrived Wednesday, Nov. 25 just before 5 a.m. to Mark’s Nature Park on Finholm St. to find a tent and its belongings engulfed in flames.

“There was some extension to some of the foliage and the trees, but didn’t go extensively beyond the footprint of the tent,” fire chief Marc Norris said.

Nobody associated with the tent was found on scene, Norris said.

“From a preliminary look at the scene there was some propane fuel, heating, and cooking equipment there, which we believe why the tent may have caught fire.”

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Norris said this is the first tent fire of this sort he can recall locally in recent memory.

The City’s communications manager Deb Tardiff said other tents and campers were cleared out of the park following the fire.

Local area residents have had longstanding concerns caused by impacts of homeless encampments in Mark’s Nature Park.

The City of Parksville issued a news release stating the park would be closed for the next few days to cleanup fire debris and assess affected areas. Compromised cedar trees and significant imminent winds were also cited as reasons for the closure.

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