A forest fire that swept through an acre of Paradise Valley brush last Friday (July 18) is suspected to be linked to work on CN railway tracks that occurred the previous day. "The cause is CN crews were doing track work, some cutting the day before," said Squamish Fire Rescue firefighter Bob Fulton. "There must have been an ember that sat there and smoldered and later when the winds came up it caught on and set a fire."The fire was reported at 1 p.m., and with the assistance of four water bombers, a helicopter with bucket, 26 Coastal Fire Centre personnel and numerous Squamish Fire Rescue workers and equipment, the fire was declared under control five hours later.High winds and extremely dry conditions could have led to a more serious problem, according to firefighter Bob Fulton. "Because of the terrain and the wind and how dry the fuel is right now, it could've really gone," said Fulton. "The next firebreak is Highway 99 above it. You would've had a serious forest fire and it could've compromised Highway 99 for sure."But a series of fortunate coincidences saw the fire under control within the afternoon. Luckily, said Fulton, there was a helicopter with a bucket on the scene right away. At 1 p.m., a Coastal Fire Centre Omega helicopter was moving from one zone to another when it spotted the fire, according to the centre's information officer Donna MacPherson."It was actually quite different," said MacPherson. "There was an aircraft flying overhead that reported it to us that spotted it, but they also were working for us so he had a bucket on. So we asked him to immediately start bucketing to cool the area down, which he did."The fire was one kilometre from the residential neighbourhood of Midnight Way. "It was about shoulder height moving through the shrubbery and the small trees. There may be an occasional large tree that candles," said MacPherson.MacPherson said Coastal Fire Centre could not confirm the cause of the fire since the investigation was not yet complete. CN media liaison Kelli Svendsen said the corporation is also holding an investigation."Our current operation, when we do anything around the rail line in fire season, is to soak down the land before and after," she said. "I wouldn't come to any conclusion on what was done or not done right now."Both spokespersons said they did not know how long the investigations would take. Despite radio reports claiming an evacuation order had been given, the residents were in no immediate danger. But if the wind had turned, circumstances could have been different, said Fulton. "There are lots of residents at Midnight Way, but with the wind direction, they weren't in jeopardy, however if the wind would've turned, we could've been pretty concerned about the residents up there and started evacuation."Residents are being warned about the high fire hazard. Coastal Fire Centre has set a fire ban on areas outside the Squamish district. Campfires are still allowed with the district, said Fulton, but locals are asked to be vigilant."The hazard is high and it could go to extreme any time. Be really, really careful with fires. It should only be in designated fire pits and not out in the backcountry."Fire Rescue is also asking residents for help in retrieving a piece of equipment that was stolen from the scene after crews got the fire under control. A 5,000-gallon, pumpkin-shaped water container worth $5,000 went missing when crews left it in the area overnight. Anyone with information is asked to contact Fire Rescue at 604 898-9666.
