Ladysmith fire department members were hot on the heels of an abandoned vehicle fire off of Comox Logging Road early Friday morning.
Fire officials say a quick response and the time of the incident prevented the fire from getting out of hand.
"We were lucky we got there quick," said Ladysmith fire chief Ray Delcourt. "It moved through the vehicle, went through the bush and started to move quickly."
The Ladysmith Fire Department was paged out at about 7 a.m. Friday morning. According to Delcourt, the vehicle was a Budget van that had been stolen from Duncan. The suspect(s) then parked the vehicle on Comox Logging Road, approximately half a kilometer behind Rocky Creek Village, and set it on fire.
Helicopter crews were also called in to help douse the flames.
"The key thing for us right now is the fact that it was in the early in the morning," Delcourt said. "If that fire was even around noon, we could have had a totally different result. It would've grown a lot faster, a lot more out of control."
With the Coastal Fire Centre rating at extreme, Delcourt said it is increasingly important for residents to take more care and use common sense when conditions are dry and volatile.
"One thing we're seeing is people throwing their cigarette butts out on the highway, we've had a rash of bark mulch fires more than we've ever had before this year," he said.