The Kimberley Fire Department was called to assist Forestry on Monday evening at the scene of a fire in Wycliffe. The fire was on the west side of Highway 95A.
Assistant Fire Chief Rick Prasad says that the cause is under investigation but the likely cause is lightning striking a power pole.
“The wind blew the line down after it burned for a while. Hydro had to kill power to deactivate the line.”
The power was out in Kimberley for about 45 minutes on Monday evening.
Jordan Turner from the Southeast Fire Centre says there were two initial attack crews, two helicopters and a water tender on the scene, as well as the Kimberley Fire Department and the RCMP for traffic control as it was so close to the highway.
“The fire’s size was estimated at .6 hectares and it was quickly contained,” Turner said, adding that the fact that it rained at the time helped a great deal.
“It’s now on patrol, we’re just making sure it’s out,” he said.
Prasad says it’s not entirely normal that the city fire department would respond to a potential forest fire outside of city limits but resources are stretched right now.
“We are part of the resource pool in the province. If Forestry are short resources they can call for assistance.
“We spent a couple of hours there, then had to come back because there were signs of problems in Kimberley.”
Those problems turned out to be smoke reported in the Nature Park but Prasad says no fire was found.