A fire on a rural Aldergrove property was quickly doused by firefighters, but it is just the latest in 13 incidents on the property since the start of 2019.
The latest fire on the property in the 4600 block of 256th Street was reported around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 23. The fire was apparently a pile of trash, apparently including a small cargo trailer or a boat.
It wasn’t a large fire, and was quickly extinguished by the first fire crews on the scene, but it was also the thirteenth time fire crews have responded to some sort of fire there since January, 2019, according to Township of Langley deputy fire chief Bruce Ferguson.
On Saturday, firefighters arrived to find what they described as an “unstable man hooting and hollering” and dancing around a fire, said Ferguson.
The fire was doused, but the man fled when Langley RCMP officers arrived.
Ferguson said in this case, the man wasn’t ticketed, although it’s unclear why. The Township is mailing burning violation tickets to properties ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The RCMP were unable to locate the man on the approximately six-acre property, said Largy.
She noted that the property has apparently been sold, and that RCMP believe the resident will have to leave soon.
“He will be out of the property by the beginning of June,” she said.
A previous fire on the property last summer led to a resident being taken into custody by RCMP under the Mental Health Act (MHA).
On July 9, a travel trailer the resident was living in burned. Police suspected the fire had been deliberately set. In the extremely dry summer weather, firefighters also had to douse spot fires in the dry grass.
People apprehended under the MHA are taken to see a doctor and may be held for involuntary treatment if a doctor believes they are in danger of harming themselves or others.
READ MORE: Suspect arrested after trailer burns in rural Aldergrove
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