A fire that broke out along Richmond’s Shell Road Trail Tuesday afternoon has been extinguished.
At around 11 p.m. Tuesday night, the city posted to Twitter saying “crews quickly extinguished” the fire and “efforts will be maintained overnight to reduce the potential for further ignition due to embers.”
#RichmondFireRescue crews quickly extinguished a wild land fire on Shell Rd Trail between Blundell & Francis.Efforts will be maintained overnight to reduce the potential for further ignition due to embers.AVOID the area to ensure public safety & stability of efforts. #RichmondBC pic.twitter.com/j7RcLbtZta
— Richmond, BC Alerts (@RichmondBCAlert) August 22, 2018
City of Richmond spokesperson, Ted Townsend, told the Richmond News the “wild land fire” was burning along the trail between Blundell and Francis roads and that crews were able to access the area from Altona Place and King Road.
The fire grew to approximately 300 square metres and 17 Fire-Rescue crew members responded to the call, rotating through duties for approximately seven hours.
“Crews were able to get the fire under control quickly, keeping it from spreading further and had knocked down with a couple of hours of initial response,” Townsend said it an emailed statement.
Now, Fire-Rescue has established two water cannons in the area and are keeping water flowing to reduce possible ignition.
The source of the ignition is still under investigation.
Ofra Sixto drove by the fire on her way home from work on Tuesday. She described the scene as a “bog with lots of smoke coming out.”
“You can see lots of ashes falling,” she told the Richmond News while parked nearby. “My car is full of ashes, partly because I left the window open.”
She said the thick smoke made her eyes burn.
Anthony, who did not want to use his last name, said fire crews were using water from his townhouse complex to fight the flames. He lives in Adelaide Court, right at the edge of the wooded area.
Looking out his window, he said he spotted seven fire trucks at his complex alone.
“It’s intense,” he said. “Everybody here is worried that [the fire] is going to move down. If it does move down and they can’t control it, this place will go up like a matchstick.”
The city is asking the public to avoid Shell Road Trail between France and Williams roads and to be extremely cautious with any open flames and smoking materials. If any signs of smoke or fire are seen, the public is asked to call 911 immediately.
