An RV that caught fire near Kennedy Lake is fuelling already sparked concerns around wildfire risks around Vancouver Island's Pacific Rim.
Ucluelet Fire Rescue responded to the engulfed RV near the Kennedy Lake boat launch around midnight on June 10, taking roughly five hours to extinguish the flames and clean up the area, according to Deputy Fire Chief Markus McRurie.
He added the driver of the RV escaped the blaze.
“He stalled out and all of a sudden his engine started smoking and the next thing you know, his engine compartment was on fire,” McRurie told the Westerly News. “The big concern there was exposure to the surrounding forest and bushes…Thank goodness it actually hadn’t spread. One tree was a little singed, but ultimately it was just the RV on fire.”
He added his crew was quickly tasked to the scene by BC Wildfire Dispatch due to the heightened risk of fires in the area, noting crews were tackling a large wildfire at Nahmint Mountain, west of Sproat Lake, at the time.
“They took it super seriously when they got word that this could be spreading to the trees and we got tasked pretty quickly to check it out,” he said. “The risk is increasing for sure. I know right now Port Alberni is bone dry.
“We’re not at that level yet, but if we get a few more weeks of the weather that we’ve been getting, it’s a real concern…It just seems each summer it’s getting dryer and dryer.”
He added there are no fire hydrants in the area and he was proud of how well his crew tackled the blaze and thwarted a potential disaster.
“We were able to use foam and put it out relatively easily with the water that we had onboard our truck. Great job to my team,” he said.
“They did a great job putting it out, nobody was hurt and it didn’t spread to the bushes or the trees, so that was a win for us.”
