By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Brush fire forces major traffic delays near Nanaimo Visitor Centre

Sep 13, 2017 | 5:21 PM

NANAIMO — End of day traffic was backed up after Nanaimo firefighters responded to a bush fire near the intersection of Northfield Rd. and the Nanaimo Parkway.

The fire was discovered roughly 100 metres behind the Nanaimo Visitor Centre above Maxey Rd. by cyclist James Henley prior to 4 p.m. Wednesday.

“I saw what appeared to be a puff of smoke and I thought someone was in the bush smoking,” he told NanaimoNewsNOW. “I turned and went to go in to say ‘Hey, that’s not a good idea’ and the flames just burst in front of my face.” Henley added no smoker was found and the cause of the fire is unknown.

Crews were quickly on the scene suppressing the fire. The blaze caused a significant amount of smoke from the area and had started to climb before being battled back by fire crews.

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By late Wednesday evening the fire was considered under control but crews remained on scene doing mop up duty and watching for hot spots.

The fire caused serious traffic delays in both directions of the Nanaimo Parkway and Northfield Rd.

NanaimoNewsNOW will update the story as more information becomes available.

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