A beaver chewed through a tree causing it to topple onto power lines in Maple Ridge Monday afternoon.
Sparks from the power lines started a small fire near Spencer Creek forcing the Maple Ridge Fire Department to shut down Lougheed Highway around 3:30 p.m. to traffic travelling west.
Assistant fire chief Mark Smitton said the fire department had to wait for B.C. Hydro to shut down a section of the power grid before crews could hose down the brush.
As of 7 p.m., the west-bound stretch of Lougheed Hwy.- between 240th Street and Tamarack Lane - was still closed to traffic.
Spencer Creek is home to the semi-aquatic rodent who is building a dam in the vicinity.
Smitton said firefighters did not see the beaver when they arrived on scene.
It isn't the first time a beaver has caused traffic havoc in Maple Ridge.
In 2005, a tree chewed by a beaver fell onto a moving pickup truck near Spilsbury Street on Lougheed Hwy., a few block east of Monday's fire.