Members of the Pitt Meadows fire department are fuming over the way their assistant chief was treated while responding to an illegal campfire last week.
Brad Perrie was called to the Pitt River dike last Thursday, and arrived to find a group of adults and children gathered around a fire. When he asked them to put it out, as per city bylaws, the group became agitated.
"They began to be verbally abusive to him," said Chief Don Jolley of the Pitt Meadows Fire and Rescue Service. "One of the individuals, a male, proceeded to physically make contact with him, spat at him, and took his notebook out of his hands and threw it into the water."
Perrie called the RCMP, but by the time officers arrived at the remote location the group had fled.
The assistant fire chief wasn't hurt, according to Jolley, but he was surprised by what happened.
"We've never experienced this type of disrespectful or inappropriate behaviour before," Jolley said. "Certainly the example they set in front of the children that were there was not very good."
The department is reviewing how it responds to calls about campfires at out-of-the-way locations, but there aren't many options available. Jolley said they could send multiple members, but if a major fire were to break out somewhere else, it would take those firefighters much longer to respond.
Pitt Meadows doesn't allow open burning at any time of year, except by farmers who are burning agricultural products with a permit. Regardless, given the number of active wildfires across B.C. right now, Jolley said everyone should know better.
"It's blatant common sense that you shouldn't be putting fires anywhere near grassland areas or forestry areas, it's just far too dangerous, and by the time fire crews get to them they can be out of control," he said.
