$2,000 in firefighting equipment stolen from site of B.C. wildfire: regional district

Smoke from the Merry Creek wildfire is seen in an image from the B.C. Wildfire Service.

Vancouver -

In the midst of what's already been an intense wildfire season, a B.C. regional district said thousands of dollars in equipment was recently stolen from a site.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay said in a statement Tuesday that $2,000 worth of equipment was taken from the Merry Creek wildfire site near Castlegar. The theft is believed to have happened between July 10 at 7 p.m. and early July 11.

Included in the stolen equipment is more than 1,000 feet of forestry hose and six sprinklers. The equipment was being used to protect a home on Highway 3, about 25 kilometres west of Castlegar.

"It is extremely disappointing and hard to imagine why anyone would steal this important, life saving equipment," said Nora Hannon, RDCK's regional fire chief, in a news release.

"We want to make sure everyone in the community is aware the theft has occurred and ask anyone with information to please come forward to Castlegar RCMP."

The regional district says the equipment is "essential" to fire crews right now, adding that increased fire activity throughout the province has made it difficult to source specialized equipment.

Anyone with information about the theft should call Castlegar RCMP's non-emergency line at 250-365-7721.

The Merry Creek fire started on July 1 and grew to more than 15 hectares in size. On that day, an evacuation order was issued for 31 properties. The order was lifted on July 3. 

By July 5, the fire was listed as 100 per cent contained and is not on the BC Wildfire Services list of wildfires of note.

As of Tuesday, the BC Wildfire Service has 25 wildfires of note listed on its site, with blazes in five of the six fire centres in the province. Only the coastal fire centre currently has no such fires, which are especially visible or pose a threat to public safety.

So far this season, 174,717 hectares have burned from 1,042 fires.

With files from The Canadian Press