Emergency crews have contained a brush fire on Skirt Mountain in Langford.
Geoff Spriggs, Langford Fire Rescue assistant fire chief, said the fire spread quickly because of the dry conditions, but crews were able to reach the fire and started to put it out soon after it started.
Spriggs said they were notified of the fire through several 911 calls from people in the community that could see the smoke. The smoke was visible across the West Shore and other areas in Greater Victoria.
The area affected was roughly 200 feet by 200 feet in size, on steep slope, 600 feet off the roadway through the bush with no access by trail. The fire occurred on Skirt Mountain off the new section of Bear Mountain Parkway, north of McCallum Road.
Spriggs said the fire spread from the ground to the trees and it could have been worse if winds were stronger.
“We’ve been very fortunate that the winds are not higher or gusty, that’s helped us contain this significantly,” Spriggs said. “The conditions are very, very bad, so in this terrain it’s extremely difficult to work in and quite dangerous.”
Smoke rising from the brush fire on Bear Mountain Parkway. Fire crews are getting ready to run lines into the brush. Not sure how far in it is or why it started. Stay tuned. @GoldstreamNews #yyj pic.twitter.com/ZJPGQP1QL6
— Lindsey Horsting (@lindseyhorsting) August 1, 2018
An initial crew hiked into the brush and was working to contain the fire while additional firefighters ran hoses.
Brush fire on Bear Mountain Parkway. Fire crews are on scene. Traffic is not currently affected. @GoldstreamNews #yyj #yyjtraffic pic.twitter.com/OlJmOXR8qm
— Lindsey Horsting (@lindseyhorsting) August 1, 2018
Forestry crews were also called in and landed in a helicopter that circled the area. Spriggs said forestry was doing an assessment from the air before landing to assist the 15 firefighters working on scene.
A helicopter is circling the area where the brush fire is on Skirt Mountain. @GoldstreamNews #yyj #yyjnews pic.twitter.com/TX5aIwOU50
— Lindsey Horsting (@lindseyhorsting) August 1, 2018
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but the investigator was on scene.
Spriggs said in very dry conditions anything could start a fire, so reporting it quickly and getting fire crews on scene is key to keeping it under control.
Crews were called to the scene at around noon on Wednesday and managed to fully contained the blaze within roughly two hours.
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