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Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Gale mourned after boating tragedy SARAH SIMPSON CITIZEN
Fire crews knocked down the flames and spent hours dousing hot spots but a fire on Wicks Road in North Cowichan Monday night has rendered a twostory home unlivable. [KEVIN ROTHBAUER/CITIZEN]
Wicks Road home gutted by fire
SARAH SIMPSON CITIZEN
North Cowichan’s South End Fire Department spent close to four hours dousing flames and mopping up a house fire on Wicks Road Monday night. The flames were discovered about 6:30 p.m. And they ultimately engulfed the entire house, reducing it to a frame of charred beams and rubble.
South End deputy chief Brad Coleman said members of the Maple Bay Fire Department joined his crew of about 25 from the South End hall. “Just for extra manpower, we called in Maple Bay as well,” Coleman said. The mutual aid crew brought with them a pumper to be added to the South End equipment. Firefighters spent upwards of
four hours at the scene. “It was a bit of a stubborn one and of course the overhaul, that always takes a bit of time to make sure you don’t have rekindles,” Coleman said. “There was quite a bit of fuel load in there.” The cause of the fire was unknown Tuesday but the investigation continued. It’s believed two adults were displaced as a result of the blaze.
The busy night for firefighters continues a busy year for the South End members. Coleman said there’s been a spike in structure fires in 2015, according to the hall’s statistics. “We’ve had a busy year for structures,” he said. “Last night’s was probably number 15 or 16 this year. It is [unusual]. Generally in a year we expect of an average of about maybe six.”
A family is grieving the loss of a beloved Duncan man and his best friend is still coming to terms with the outcome of what was supposed to be an ordinary fishing trip on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 25. Brayden Gale and his best friend Liem Pham, both 22, had just that week returned to the Cowichan Valley from living in Alberta where Pham had been working for Gale at his Edmonton-based landscaping company. They’d both g rown up in Duncan and were eager to return home to be closer to friends and family. The duo, who rarely spent a day apart, did everything together, so it was not out of the ordinary when they set out together to go fishing on Chemainus Lake. Only one man was able to return home, however. Authorities were called to the lake about 10:30 a.m. after witnesses Susan Harrison and Todd Lefebure, out for a daily walk around the lake, noticed the canoeists in trouble and called 9-1-1. See HE WAS, Page 10
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