A fire intentionally lit outside a Rossland Avenue home on Saturday could have had the block going up in flames if the regional department wasn’t located across the street.
Fire Chief Dan Derby, from Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue, says the illegal backyard fire quickly grew and burnt belongings in the yard as well as the fence, and the heat melted siding on the home.
“It burned an area probably 10 feet by 30 feet,” he said. “It’s only by the close proximity (to the fire department) that it didn’t become a larger event, catching the home or adjacent home on fire.”
Backyard fires are never allowed in the City of Trail. On top of that, as Derby pointed out, burning is banned across the province right now.
That call, which came in just before 1 p.m. and was under control within minutes, was one of many for the regional crew on the weekend.
Besides the structure fire, Station 374 Trail responded to three fire alarms and to a rescue boat call, though the vessel never made it to the river.
“That was a call for assistance from the RCMP,” said Derby. “The situation was resolved on our way, so we didn’t end up launching the boat.”
By far, the call with the longest duration involved a semi-trailer rollover just outside of Rossland.
The truck was carrying sulphuric acid, a hazardous product, which took time to offload in a safe and controlled manner.
A three-man crew from Trail and five Rossland firefighters stayed on scene from mid-morning until 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
“My concern is that this is the third event that involves the acid product within the last few months,” Derby said. “So from a public safety (point of view) it’s very concerning to me in regards to the movement of acid through our communities.”