Treehouse fire scorches section of Burke Mountain

Coquitlam firefighters rushed to the west side of Burke Mountain on Monday morning after a blaze started in an “elaborate treehouse.”

A call came in at about 5:25 a.m. as the fire burned through the treehouse and spread to bushes and trees, according Coquitlam Fire Rescue Fire Chief Scott Young.

The fire grew until it was about 12 feet by 12 feet. However, finding the backcountry blaze was a challenge.

“You can see the smoke from a distance but once you get in the woods you can’t see very far,” Young said, noting he was in the area on his mountain bike at the time. “I was only about 100 metres from it but I still could not see it.”

Firefighters were on the scene at about 6:30 a.m. and immediately dug down to mineral soil around the fire to contain the blaze.

However, with no aircraft available for bucketing, getting a water supply to the densely forested area was a challenge, Young said.

“It’s a little ways off the beaten path,” he said.

The team ended up running an approximately 400-metre waterline from Coy Avenue off Coast Meridian Road.

Around the time the line was ready a B.C. Wildfire Service crew from Chilliwack arrived to lend a hand and the two teams worked together.

The fire was under control by 10 a.m. and extinguished early Monday afternoon.

The blaze is considered human caused.

Amid mostly dry weather and warm temperatures, the incident is a reminder to “take extreme care” with lighters and matches, Young said. Any fire, particularly along the urban-wildlife boundary, puts the community at risk.