NANAIMO -- Nanaimo Fire Rescue responded Wednesday afternoon to a large grass fire near the E&N Trail and railway.
Crews arrived on scene around 1 p.m. to the brush fire, which was nearly one kilometre in length.
The flames were running parallel to the E&N Trail and Highway 19A, between Dorman Road and Northfield Road.
Waterlines were deployed all along the fire to get as much of the blaze knocked down as possible
Because of the size of the fire, an extra two fire engines were brought in to assist. One engine was brought in from Hall One to attack the southern portion of the fire and one engine was brought in from Hall Three to attack the north side.
Crews were on scene for over an hour, putting a lot of water on the fire while walking the entire length of the blaze many times. Firefighters say they are confident the fire is out now.
The cause of the fire is not known at this time, but Nanaimo Fire says a freight train was on the tracks at the same time the fire started.
The fire loss prevention branch has contacted the railway crew that was on scene at the time to ensure a malfunction hasn’t taken place.
Nanaimo Fire says a couple of vehicles with approximately 500 gallons of water will follow the train car as a precaution to make sure the locomotive doesn’t spark up, if that was the problem.
