A weekend brushfire in a Delta park may have been extinguished, but officials are concerned that some Metro Vancouverites are not taking the extreme fire danger seriously.

The blaze began Saturday evening in Watershed Park, one of five Delta parks currently closed to the public given the hot, dry conditions. Many areas of the province, including Metro Vancouver, currently have a fire danger rating of extreme.  

Fire Chief Dan Copeland says the blaze is considered suspicious, and the Delta Police Department is investigating the incident.

“It’s one of our worst fears,” says Copeland. “We made the decision to close the parks for this reason…they are probably the driest that I’ve ever seen, despite the fact that we had some drizzle a week or so ago.” 

Copeland says people playing at a nearby field spotted smoke and reported the fire, which was swiftly put out – but not before a 50-foot area was left charred.

Residents in the area were also concerned. Flames were only 100 metres away from some homes. 

“The scary thing was the fact that the fire was just at the back of my house, like 100 metres over there,” neighbour Sonny Bhinder told CTV. “You do get scared by all the wildfires….but the fire department is right across from here, so if anything happens these guys are on it.”

Yet firefighters are becoming increasingly frustrated with the dry conditions -- and bad behavior from Metro Vancouverites.

Despite the fact that Boundary Bay Park Reserve, Watershed Park, Cougar Canyon Nature Reserve, North 40 Park Reserve, and Delta Nature Reserve are all currently closed to the public, Copeland says some people are sneaking in – and being ticketed for it.

“It’s concerning when what we’re trying to do is preserve an area,” says Copeland. “Public safety is our first concern. We just ask that people heed the signs and don’t go into the parks when we are at this extreme fire rating.”

With more than a hundred wildfires still burning across the province and much of summer still to come, officials are asking the public to be careful. A brushfire in Surrey was also extinguished over the weekend, as was a hedge fire near the University of British Columbia in Point Grey.

“Public safety is number one, and you have to be thinking about other people,” says Copeland. “And if it’s a discarded cigarette or even a discarded drinking bottle that can magnify – you have got to be very careful.”