A fire that started late yesterday afternoon in Natuashish has been contained but fire chief Jerry Pasteen said they are still working at putting out various hotspots to the north of the community.
Yesterday’s fire came dangerously close to homes in the small northern community.
“It’s good that the wind did not change in our direction,” Pasteen said.
A water bomber arrived within an hour of the fire getting out of control and began to douse the high reaching flames as some residents took front row seats on their rooftops.
Local residents posted photos of the fire to the Facebook social media site as large plumes of smoke were visible over rooftops.
One resident posted photos from a nearby hill where even the flames were visible.
Pasteen estimated that the fire covered between one and two kilometres. Today the fire department, comprised of 16 local residents, along with the water bomber crew was working to put out remaining hot spots.
Pasteen said they had reports that children were playing with matches in the area of the fire but no cause has yet been confirmed.
He said the hot weather is worrisome for the possibility of future fire and already in the past seven weeks, the fire department has had to douse 39 outside fires. Yesterday’s fire was the first big fire for the community since fires near the airport three years ago.
