An abandoned truck that went up in flames and caused a brush fire above the Sechelt Airport is considered a crime scene as Sunshine Coast RCMP search for a suspect in what they describe as a “very careless” act of arson.
The Sechelt Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched around 11:20 a.m. Sunday, July 4, after the fire was called into BC Wildfire Service. The Conservation Officer Service was also called to the scene since the truck, which had been abandoned in the area at least eight months ago, falls within their jurisdiction.
It took 10 firefighters and about one hour to control and then extinguish the fire, which had spread to the surrounding brush in a 30 metre by 15 metre area along a BC Hydro right-of-way between two transmission poles near the Sechelt Airport Forest Service Road, about 300 metres north of the airport.
“The vehicle was pretty much completely burned out by the time we got there,” Sechelt Fire Department fire prevention officer Matt Gilroy told Coast Reporter. “[We] quickly put all our resources into dealing with that brush fire.”
Following a limited investigation, the fire department deemed the fire to be purposely ignited. The RCMP is now investigating the cause, are treating the fire as arson and expect to be seeking assistance from the public in their search for a suspect. No one was injured in the fire.
“It was very lucky that it didn’t spread,” said Sunshine Coast RCMP Sgt. Don Newman, adding it could have had a “significant impact” on the community because the fire burned underneath the power lines. “It’s very careless.”
Newman said police believe the fire was started at some point during the night or early morning.
Gilroy said it was “very surprising and very concerning” that the fire was started intentionally “with no reason other than to start a fire.”
“I can’t even fathom what would cause someone to want to do that, particularly this time of year with all the fires burning around the province and communities being lost. It’s just horrible to think what could have happened there if things had been just a little bit different.”
As with the rest of the province, open burning and campfires are prohibited on the Sunshine Coast as record temperatures have baked the area, resulting in a fire danger class rating for the Sunshine Coast area of 4 or High Danger, according to the BC Wildfire Service.
Gilroy said the risk of the fire burning out of control was “extreme.”
“If that fire caught and got into the timber line – which wasn’t very far away through the ground level brush – that would have put our whole community at risk,” he said. “It’s less than a kilometre from the airport, homes, businesses.”
“It had the potential to cause massive devastation on the Sunshine Coast.”
