A south-end blaze destroyed a fifth-wheel trailer home Tuesday night, officials said, and while an investigation is ongoing, there were no injuries, and foul play is not suspected.
Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue (SSIFR) responded to a call for a structure fire on Jones Road near Fulford just after 9:30 p.m. Jan. 7, according to SSIFR Chief Jamie Holmes, who said a trailer there was found completely engulfed in flames as firefighters arrived.
“Unfortunately, the trailer was fully involved, the propane tanks were already purging at that point,” said Holmes. “The structure was a total loss.”
Holmes said no one was home at the time of the fire, although Emergency Support Services were called to the scene and did help out. Coincidentally, Salt Spring firefighters had just wrapped up their annual department meet-and-greet in Ganges, celebrating the 2024 recruits’ first year and welcoming those joining in 2025. At the time of the page-out, Holmes said, several members stationed at Hall No. 2 in Fulford and Hall No. 3 at Central had already returned from the event –– and all three island halls subsequently had quick responses.
“Kind of a fitting way to welcome the new recruits,” said Holmes, “by leaving them all while we responded to a fire.”
Firefighters worked into the night to completely extinguish the blaze, Holmes said. Some 20 members were at the scene for about four hours, he added, and used around 4,000 gallons of water.