The cause of last week’s 4.4-hectare fire in Castlegar, located below the southern water treatment plant, is considered suspicious.
Castlegar fire crews battled the blaze near the river end of 18th Street on May 15.
The department relied on City staff for quick access to a nearby fire hydrant, which acting Fire Chief Nick Ahlefeld told councillors on Tuesday allowed crews to subdue the flames quickly.
“I gave them a call to ask if we could get the hydrant at the end of 18th Street charged, which they did quickly. They also helped us run a line from the engines at the end of the 18th up to the hydrant so we could have a constant water supply. That drastically made a huge difference in that fire and helped us maintain it at that size.”
The department believes the fire was human-caused, although crews were unable to identify exactly what caused it.
Crews also received reports of another fire earlier that same day near the Columbia Ave Chevron. Ahlefeld says this call involved a campfire started by an unhoused individual.
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