A wildfire north of Campbell River is now considered under control, thanks to some quick action and lucky breaks.
Coastal fire crews were notified of the fire around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday after a tree fell onto a power line, knocking it to the ground and starting the blaze.
The high winds which caused the tree to fall also created a challenge for crews responding to the fire.
"Throughout the night it was very smoky so it was hard to size up the fire at first," said firefighter Kara Galbraith.
Galbraith said two factors worked in their favour: one was the fact that a logging company fire crew was in the area and quickly began to attack the fire. The second was a nearby creek.
"Luckily there is a water source right by the fire. We were able to wrap it with hose within a couple of hours and it only grew to a quarter hectare."
The fire scene is located along Highway 19 and the roadway was initially closed, then re-opened to single-lane traffic in the initial stages of the incident.
The fire was out of control when crews first arrived and was starting to climb higher into the trees.
"The drought codes are getting a bit higher than average for this time of year so the fire tends to dig down a little into the moss and root systems," said response officer Zenon Garnet.
Garnet said crews will be on the scene for the next few days monitoring the situation and will feel along the edges of the fire scene for any residual heat or sparks.
