The RCMP Forest Crimes Investigation Unit is investigating a suspicious forest fire in Halfmoon Bay last Friday -the most recent of a string of suspect fires near Trout Lake.
The fire, reported to the B.C. Forest Service just after 7 p.m. on Aug. 18, spread to almost a hectare in the Halfmoon-Carlson Forest Service Road area, the unit's Const. Kevin Hamilton said from B.C. RCMP headquarters this week."We don't know exactly how it was started at this time but the ignition looks suspicious to us," Hamilton said. "This fire does concern us greatly because it's quite close to a number of residences. With everything being so dry it didn't take long for the fire to increase itself into a considerable size."
The B.C. Forest Service and Halfmoon Bay Volunteer Fire Department attended the scene. Cpl. Erich Heins of the RCMP unit was in Halfmoon Bay investigating the fire last weekend, Hamilton said.
"Subsequently it's going to be involved in our ongoing investigation with the suspicious fires in that region," he said.
The unit has been investigating the Halfmoon Bay fires for close to two years, looking into the 19 summer fires suspected to be arson in the area dating back eight years.
