The wildfire that burned up a hectare of hillside above Horseshoe Bay has been declared out.
After doing final patrols over the weekend, West Vancouver Fire & Rescue alerted the Coastal Fire Centre Monday that the blaze had been officially extinguished.
Investigators tracked down the source of the blaze to just behind a small gazebo at a pull-out/viewing area where Highway 1 turns into Highway 99.
“So that does confirm that it’s human caused,” said fire Chief Dave Clark.
Crews closed Highway 99 in both directions June 26 as they tried to get the fire under control. It was only because of a lull in forest fire activity around the province that airtankers, water bombers and bucketing helicopters were so readily available to get the blaze extinguished, Clark said.
Although they don’t know exactly what sparked the fire, Clark said the most likely culprit is a discarded cigarette butt or some other kind of smoking material. The fire department has now placed a sign there warning others about what happened.
Clark said he has a message for the person who carelessly caused so much damage.
“Take it as a warning,” he said. “It could have been way worse. We could have lost lives or could have lost more than just trees and nature. We could have lost property and people’s livelihoods.”
Clark said flicking butts is still frustratingly common behaviour among smokers, noting that he saw someone do it on his commute in to work on Thursday.
Smokers need to find a safer way of disposing their butts, as climate change is raising the stakes, making B.C.’s forests dryer.
“It’s really a problem,” he said. “These small actions that people do have a huge effect on the whole province.”
As of Sunday, the fire danger rating for the area is listed as “high.”
