If you see or smell smoke in the area, it’s not because of a structure fire or wildfire.
According to a tweet from Langford Fire Rescue, the smoke is being caused by a controlled burn in the Shirley and Sooke area.
Controlled burns towards Shirley and Sooke area causing smoke in Langford. There are no fires in the Westshore. Please only call 911 if you see a distinct column of smoke or see flames.#yyj #cityoflangford #langford pic.twitter.com/RLYDqDYkFB
— Langford Fire Rescue (@LangfordFire) October 31, 2018
Online reports confirm that the burns are being conducted by Timber West – a private timberland company that is setting fire to a significant number of slash piles this Halloween.
Langford Fire Rescue states that the piles are located in the Otter Point area, but Victorians have taken to social media to report smelling and/or seeing a shroud of smoke covering the city as far away as UVic.
Saanich Fire department tweeted in response to Victoria Buzz, stating that the smoke has indeed drifted over to Saanich and Victoria from West Shore and the smoke index is high at the moment.
Hey #Saanich this smoke is drifting out from the Westshore into @saanich and @CityOfVictoria the smoke index is high at the moment. There are no active fires here #besafenotsorry
DW https://t.co/4Vh2UCAtU5— Saanich Fire (@SaanichFire) October 31, 2018
While the burns are controlled, people are still advised to call 911 if you see a “distinct column of smoke or see flames”.
