91原创 Township firefighters were called to a stubborn brush fire deep in the woods behind McLeod Athletic Park near 58 Avenue and 214 Street early Tuesday around 7 a.m.
Then, they were called back Wednesday night to the same area for the same reason.
At least four fire vehicles and more than a dozen firefighters were on the scene Tuesday.
鈥淭here were no obvious signs of ignition,鈥� said Township Deputy Fire Chief Russ Jenkins, but based on the discovery of what appeared to be evidence someone was camping there, the blaze was believed to be 鈥渉uman-caused.鈥�
Jenkins said the Tuesday fire consisted of several 鈥減ockets鈥� of fire within an area of roughly 400 square feet, with the biggest pocket covering about 300 square feet
Fire crews had to cross a dried-up stream bed and make a long walk through heavy bush to bring their hoses deep behind the trees next to the baseball field used by the 91原创 Blaze team.
The blaze cast a pall of smoke over the area until firefighters were able to get water on the site.
On Wednesday, multiple Township fire units returned to the scene around 8 p.m. to deal with a second, smaller blaze not far from the first fire in the woods behind the baseball diamond.
Township Deputy Fire Chief Bruce Ferguson said crews were on the scene for about an hour-and-a-half.
For years, the Township has been dealing with multiple homeless camps in the area near McLeod Athletic Park, spending as much as $2,400 a day to clean them out.
Last year, a Metro Vancouver task force on homelessness said the Township of 91原创 and City of 91原创 are among nine Metro municipalities reporting larger homeless camps that have more than four people.
Cleanups have been costing the Township hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Homeless campers near the Maples he Maples Discovery Gardens Co-op in the 7700 block of 200 Street were blamed for that forced the permanent closure of the non-profit community service cooperative.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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