Fire at an outbuilding in Maple Ridge threatened to spread into nearby forests on Sunday afternoon.
The call about a structure fire came in at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 13, on 108th Avenue, near the corner of 248th Street.
Two properties were impacted, with one at the end of the street losing an outbuilding to the blaze, while the neighbour had only vegetation at the rear of his property burned.
He had been worried the fire would get into cedar trees, and in the dry conditions said it could spread quickly and threaten homes. But he credited a quick response from Ridge Meadows Fire and Rescue, who were on the scene in minutes, and knocked down the flames.
“We did get there quick, and the initial crews did a good job,” agreed deputy fire chief Geoff Spriggs.
One firefighter went to hospital, after suffering the effects of heat.
A sauna in the outbuilding is considered a possible source of the fire, which spread through the building, into a wood pile, and into blackberries on the adjoining property.
Spriggs said there was a lot of flame and heat when firefighters arrived at the scene, and in addition to the radiant heat, they were also battling the heat of a 33C summer day, in full turnout gear.
“It was 133 degrees in that gear,” said Spriggs.
When resting, one of the first firefighters on scene took longer than normal to recover, and paramedics took him to hospital as a precautionary measure. He turned out to be fine, said Spriggs.
He said high winds could have turned the situation into a wildfire, but firefighters were able to get the blaze under control quickly.
Regional Parks staff were on hand, hearing reports the fire was threatening nearby Kanaka Creek Regional Park. The fire gave off a large amount of smoke that could be seen from a distance.
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