Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire and Rescue says two wildfires in the Waneta Junction area Sunday within two hours of each other are considered suspicious.
Crews got the call a little after 3 p.m. to the Devito Drive/Bear Creek area behind Waneta Plaza. Twenty-two firefighters spent four and a half hours getting the two blazes under control.
The larger fire was about 150 by 600 feet (45 by 180 metres) and the other was about 100 by 100 feet (30 by 30 metres).
Deputy Chief Glen Gallamore says for this time of year, a wildfire “is kind of odd, and the area is kind of odd … It set off some red flags and is extremely suspicious for us.”
Crews were just starting to clean up from the first fire when the second fire was spotted, about 300 to 500 feet away from the first.
“The dispatcher called and the captain on the scene turned around and could see a large column of smoke up behind the residences off of Devito Drive,” Gallamore says.
The second one was upslope of the first and burning “quite actively” in some old dead timber.
Although there are homes in the area, Gallamore says given the time of day, the temperature, the wind direction and the direction the fire was travelling, it was not considered a threat .
“Crews got a really good perimeter guard around it pretty quick so we weren’t concerned,” he says.
However, it took some effort to put out.
“It’s a lot of grunt work. The crews worked pretty hard with lots of water, lots of digging, lots of turning up the fuel, making sure that by the time we leave it’s cold to the touch.”
Firefighters and RCMP are looking into cause. Gallamore says police went door-to-door asking residents if they noticed anyone in the area prior to the fire. He is also appealing to the general public to let them know if anyone has any information or saw anything suspicious.
RCMP say they located four other spots in the immediate area where there appeared to be recent intentionally set fires.
