Jeremy Korhonen’s post-work beverages had to wait Wednesday.
The newly arrived Vernon man, staying with family on McLennan Road in the BX, had stopped at the Squires Four Cold Beer and Wine Store shortly after 6 p.m. to quench his thirst.
Upon leaving the store, Korhonen looked up the hill toward where he is staying and noticed smoke from what appeared to be a brush fire.
“I gunned it up the hill,” said Korhonen. “I saw the fire a couple of hundred yards past our driveway.”
Korhonen parked his car and ran to the neighbour’s house, where he noticed two grass fires. He began spraying water with garden hoses.
“The neighbour brought down a pump truck of his own and I helped my uncle get that set up,” said Korhonen. “That fire was the second one. I went back to the first one then up to the neighbour’s house and kept helping them out. The fire was climbing right up towards his house.”
Jeff Campen lives above the fires.
“I looked out the living room window and saw the neighbour’s property on fire, and then I realized a section of our property was on fire,” said Campen. “I packed up the dogs and kids and headed to town. That was at about 6:30.”
Crews from the BX Swan Lake and Armstrong Spallumcheen fire departments battled the blaze with help from B.C. Wildfire initial attack crews and two helicopters, which dumped water after filling up numerous times at nearby Swan Lake.
“When I got there, there were two fires including one racing up the side of the hill that would have been about a rank 3 (severity scale) behaviour,” said BX Swan Lake fire chief Bill Wacey.
“There were about nine or 10 ponderosa pines that were candling and putting on an impressive show.”
The fires were just under two hectares in size and did come close to impacting a home and garage being built. Crews were able to knock down the fire before it reached any structures.
Firefighters remained on-scene throughout the night and into Thursday doing mop-up and making sure the fire didn’t reignite.
One homeowner was evacuated from the area while others in the small neighbourhood stayed close to watch the action unfold.
The cause of the fire has not been determined but Wacey said it is suspicious, the latest in a string of unsolved blazes in the BX area.
“Other starts have been later in the evening, this was right in the heart of the witching hour,” he said. “With the wind blowing, it could have been catastrophic.”
There have been close to 10 suspicious fires throughout the BX since April.