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Cigarettes suspected in three Victoria-area brush fires

The Victoria Fire Department put out three brush fires Sunday, all believed to be caused by carelessly discarded cigarettes. Two fires sparked within 20 minutes of each other about 2:30 p.m.
Victoria Fire Department - photo
Two fires sparked within 20 minutes of each other in Beacon Hill Park near Cook Street.

The Victoria Fire Department put out three brush fires Sunday, all believed to be caused by carelessly discarded cigarettes.

Two fires sparked within 20 minutes of each other about 2:30 p.m. in Beacon Hill Park near Cook Street, said battalion chief Jeff Zigay.

“One was probably a continuation of the other,” he said.

The fire was put out quickly, but firefighters were back at 4 p.m. after a brush fire was reported in the 600-block of Esquimalt Road near Wilson Street.

Firefighters found a patch of grass and some railway ties on fire, dangerously close to a 500-gallon propane tank used by a nearby business, Zigay said.

The blaze was extinguished and crews were cleared from the scene by 5:15 p.m. 

“Probably all of them were caused by careless smoking,” Zigay said. “So people need to be careful.”

Otter Point and Sooke fire departments tackled a brush fire discovered in the 3100-block of Otter Point Road about 5 p.m., which sent ash falling in the area.

B.C. is seeing extreme to high fire-danger conditions amid dry weather that has persisted all summer.

kderosa@timescolonist.com