A fire in Crofton severely damaged a home and destroyed outbuildings late Saturday morning, May 14.
Volunteer firefighters from four different halls — Crofton, Chemainus, Maple Bay and South End — were called to the blaze on Adelaide Street. The structures destroyed by the flames were set back from the road down long driveways.
No injuries were reported.
Crofton Fire Chief Ken Rukus said things could have been worse. “We were very lucky that we had no wind, because it’s quite a congested area the way that they’re building houses and all the forest right beside it,” he was quoted in the Times Colonist.
“So we were really lucky that it didn’t get away into the bush or we would have been looking at a very serious situation.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Firefighters battled the blaze for more than three hours. The fire started in a backyard workshop then spread to a house.
Rukus reminded people to be aware of the dry conditions that already exist on Vancouver Island. It’s still spring, but conditions have already heightened the risk of forest fires.
“If this was an August fire, we probably would have lost a lot more,” Rukus said.