A landscape fire near the railroad tracks behind the old Century 21 building (now Community Services) in Castlegar spurred the Castlegar Fire Department to quick action Wednesday afternoon (April 16).
The fire began in a dead tree and was suspicious in nature, according to Acting Fire Chief Nick Ahlefeld.
At the scene, Ahlefeld determined the fire was burning from the inside of the tree and appeared to be purposely set. It was not the result of an out-of-control campfire.
Gusting winds raised the risk of the fire spreading to the surrounding wildland area, but firefighters contained the fire before there was any further damage.
A few hours later, CFD was called out to reports of another fire in the 1900 block of Columbia.
That fire turned out to be an abandoned campfire that had grown to about one metre in size. Firecrews quickly doused the second fire as well.
