An evening blaze in Victoria’s Burnside neighbourhood left multiple vehicles incinerated, with heavy winds only making things worse.
“Well heck, today was a busy day,” Victoria Fire said Wednesday. “The high winds reached 90 km/h in Victoria, and the extreme weather front brought more emergencies than usual.”
According to the fire department, local fire crews are plagued with one of the highest call volumes per capita nationwide—with yesterday’s stormy weather only amplifying emergency calls.
“With C Platoon on shift as the winds began to build, crews knew they would be busy,” Victoria Fire wrote to Facebook.
In all, crews were called to over 34 emergencies, including everything from car crashes to wind-related havoc, such as downed power pole fires and downed trees.
But come late afternoon, firefighters made their way to a multi-vehicle blaze on Hillside Avenue, near Gorge Road East.
At the height of the fire, black smoke was seen billowing into the skies above.
“The [report] came in as a car fire, but it was soon evident that it was much more. The wind had sped up the process, and several vehicles were fully involved,” said crews.
According to the department, the fire was posing a threat to nearby structures when they arrived on scene, including residential suites and giant commercial buildings.
As multiple fire engines helped battle the blaze, crews quickly suppressed the “wind-fed flames” from extending to neighbouring buildings.
No injuries were reported, with the cause undisclosed at this time. “Fingers crossed for some better weather, eh!” added Victoria Fire.
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