A fire at Coho Storage on Wharf Avenue Monday morning, damaged three storage units.
Steven Achterberg, deputy chief of prevention for Sechelt Fire Department, said two of the storage units were empty, while the third lost its contents in the Nov. 25, fire. He noted, the cause of the fire is under investigation.
“We're awaiting some video surveillance to have a look. It doesn't appear to be naturally caused but I don't have anything to suggest it's nefarious yet, either,” said Achterberg. “So, it's still under investigation.”
Achterberg added Halfmoon Bay Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the call, so about 14 firefighters were involved in quelling the flames, which took about 90 minutes. During that time, Wharf Avenue was closed from the Sunshine Coast Highway turnoff past the storage facility, located at 5601 Wharf Ave.
The Sechelt Fire Department has had a busy week. Besides fighting two fires within 24 hours less than a week ago, between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon this week, they responded to several medical emergencies and two automatic alarms, one to an elementary school and another to a sprinkler-valve failure in an apartment building in downtown Sechelt.
On Monday night, the department also responded to reports of a recreational vehicle on fire on Dusty Road near Coast Gravity Park. A car parked beside the RV was also on fire by the time firefighters arrived.
Achterberg doesn’t expect things to slow down any leading up to the holidays and through the winter months.
“Now the weather's gotten cold, we start to get into a little more of our busy season with house fires, because more and more space heaters are being used,” he said. “We really want space heater users to be extra careful by plugging them directly into wall sockets and keeping one-metre clearance all the way around them.”
He adds, extension cords, power bars and multi-plugs aren’t designed to handle the current produced by space heaters.
“It's not the heaters, it's the cords and the stuff they're plugged into that catches fire,” said Achterberg. “People can't afford to heat their homes. Electricity is expensive, so they find creative ways to use space heaters and put blankets over them. And unfortunately, every single year, we go to space heater fires -- every year.”
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