(Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

BIG RESPONSE

Burned vehicle sparks larger bushfire along Nanaimo waterfront

Aug 14, 2023 | 11:33 AM

NANAIMO — A south end vehicle fire quickly spread and jumped into the surrounding bush, triggering a large response from Nanaimo Fire Rescue (NFR) crews

Multiple NFR crews were paged out after 911 calls reported a vehicle fire just after 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 14 in brush near the Nanaimo Port Authority property off the base of Farquar St. After initial access challenges, including a locked gate, Firefighters eventually found the scene off the northern edge of Shoreline Dr.

A four-door pickup truck was found on scene, completely destroyed, as flames extended for roughly 200 metres in tinder-dry surrounding brush.

“This time in the summer we have high winds, high temperature, it moves fire very rapidly,” Assistant Chief Troy Libbus said on scene. “With this fire, the high winds were pushing it and we had a fast-growing fire but the crews responded quickly, knocked down the fire and we got it under control rather quickly.”

Witnesses on scene said the vehicle was driven into the area late Sunday night, but got stuck. It’s believed two people slept the night inside the truck.

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No-one was confirmed to be found inside and both Nanaimo RCMP and Fire Rescue’s loss prevention team are handling the investigation.

Libbus was unable to confirm the nature of the fire, whether they consider it suspicious. He also said a cause of the fire was under investigation.

Flames and charred brush extended for around 200 metre from the truck, although no structures were damaged as a result of the fire. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Fire crews spent considerable time dousing the area around the truck, which appeared to contain piles of compost and mulch.

“We want to put a lot of water on it right now, surround it so it doesn’t go anywhere and we have crews that are going to continue to put water on it,” Libbus added.

Three engines and a water tender responded to the scene located on private property near the rail road tracks.

In addition to access challenges, crews contended with a fire hydrant which they discovered was out of service upon arrival.

Crews remained on scene for several hours Monday dousing any remaining hot spots, which included visible embers.

Firefighters doused hot spots from the fire through Monday morning. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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