The Parksville Volunteer Fire Department was called out to a backyard burn Friday (Sept. 29) afternoon.
As it turns out, it was an illegal burn, said fire chief Marc Norris.
The department was called to a French Creek home, near the end of Imperial Drive, in the early afternoon of Sept. 29.
“They’re burning their old construction waste — you’re not allowed to burn construction waste,” Norris said. “You’re not allowed to burn construction waste or noxious materials or anything like that.”
Norris said garden refuse fires are allowed in the area as of Oct. 15, but construction waste still wouldn’t qualify for burning.
He said the fire department will be referring the call to the Regional District of Nanaimo, adding that while French Creek is under the Parksville department’s fire protection area, it’s covered under different bylaws than Parksville.
The burning area, Norris said, about 20 feet by 20 feet, would have been “a little too much for them (the residents) to put out themselves.”
Norris said part of the bush behind the burned area caught on fire, adding that the person who started the burn was “lucky he didn’t start the new fence or the deck on fire.”