No one was injured and damage to nearby bush was minimal after a fire broke out at an encampment along the Nanaimo Parkway near the Aulds Rd. intersection Thursday morning. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

parkway fire

‘Whole area was on fire:’ encampment catches fire along Nanaimo Parkway

May 22, 2025 | 10:28 AM

NANAIMO — It was a busy morning for local firefighters, with an encampment fire along the Nanaimo Parkway causing some minor delays.

Nanaimo Fire Rescue crews were called to the Aulds Rd. and Nanaimo Parkway intersection just after 8 a.m. on Thursday, May 22, due to multiple reports of smoke and flames seen in the bushes off the southbound lanes, just north of the intersection.

Capt. Jason Battie told NanaimoNewsNOW on scene crews found a tent on fire as well as some surrounding debris.

“The lady that was in the tent woke up to the tent on fire. She got out, she was not injured. She said that she doesn’t know what caused the fire, or if anybody was around at the time. It’s undetermined at this time.”

Battie said they and police will conduct further investigations to try and determine the cause.

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He said flames were visible when crews arrived, with the encampment located in a heavily wooded area.

“A whole area was on fire. I say it was probably about ten feet by twenty that was on fire. It got a little bit of the brush, but we were able to extinguish it quickly.”

Emergency crews were blocking the turning lane heading south on the Parkway onto Aulds Rd. around 9 a.m. as their investigation continued.

The fire came hours after a pile of wooden debris caught fire at the site of the former Howard Johnson hotel site downtown around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday.

NFR Capt. Jason Battie and a member of the Nanaimo RCMP investigating the scene of a fire at the Nanaimo Parkway and Aulds Rd. intersection on Thursday, May 22. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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