Firefighters Respond to Multiple Grass Fires Along Highway

Emergency responders immediately took action tonight after multiple small fires broke out along the highway just north of Windermere.

“When we arrived, we found 14 separate grass fires burning alongside the highway spread across about two kilometres,” explains  Columbia Valley Rural Fire & Rescue Deputy Chief Jon Tames.  “We are extremely grateful to the members of the Shuswap Band, public and other response agencies for their quick actions to help.”

Nine members and four pieces of apparatus from the Windermere Fire Department responded to the call just after 8:30pm and remained on site until the fires were fully extinguished and completely cooled down.  Radium firefighters responded and patrolled the highway for additional fires and 3 RCMP officers also attended the scene.

While the exact cause of the fires remains under investigation, they are considered suspicious in nature. Anyone with any information on the cause, or who may have seen unusual activity along the highway corridor north of Windermere during the early evening is asked to contact the RCMP.

“To every single person who responded and helped tonight, thank you.  Although we’ve had cooler temperatures and a bit of moisture of late, with this many fires stretched across such a wide area, it very easily could have become a much more serious situation.  Your actions made a difference,” adds Tames.

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