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Compost fire at Vantreight Farms covers Saanich Peninsula with smoke

A large compost fire at Vantreight Farms spewed smoke through Central Saanich on Friday afternoon. The fire, which broke out about 2 p.m., started spontaneously in the composting facility stockpile, said Ian Vantreight.
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Vantreight Farms

A large compost fire at Vantreight Farms spewed smoke through Central Saanich on Friday afternoon.

The fire, which broke out about 2 p.m., started spontaneously in the composting facility stockpile, said Ian Vantreight.

“It was contained and brought under control relatively quickly,” Vantreight said.

Volunteer firefighters from Central Saanich and North Saanich battled the blaze, dousing the flames with water.

Vantreight said he believed the fire was caused by the recent hot, dry weather, which caused the compost to heat up.

A grass fire caused hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of damage to Vantreight Farms in September 2012. The flames quickly spread to an area where plastic trays for the transportation and storage of bulbs and flowers were piled up to 12 metres high, over an area of about 30 by 23 metres.

The 2012 fire was determined to have been accidentally set by a worker who had been burning vegetation.