Despite the provincial state of emergency, high temperatures and hundreds of wildfires in B.C., someone appears to have abandoned a campfire near the industrial park in Salmon Arm yesterday.
Salmon Arm Fire Chief Brad Shirley reports that the Salmon Arm Fire Department was called out Sunday night to investigate a report of smoke at the end of 40th Street SE.
91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵœIt was quite far into the forest so we notified BC Wildfire immediately. We assisted them in locating the fire.91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ
Shirley said they found the fire about 11:30 last night, fairly close to a trail where lots of people ride quads and dirt bikes. It was about five metres by five metres.
91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵœIt appeared to be an abandoned campfire. It91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s very frustrating.91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ
He said this morning that forestry crews were not expecting to have any trouble extinguishing it and he has not heard otherwise.
91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵœAs far as I know it91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s out and well looked after.91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ
Meanwhile, he says it91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s very upsetting to find a campfire in these conditions.
91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵœFortunately it was at night and the winds were calm. It certainly had the potential to be a very devastating fire.91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ
Shirley wants people to remember that not only is there the devastation of a fire to consider, but if someone is found responsible, the consequences are substantial. He points out the offender can potentially have to pay for the costs of fighting the fire, which can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.