Cowichan Bay Fire Rescue - Serving The Public Since 1947

COWICHAN BAY FIRE RESCUE
4461 Trans-Canada Highway
Cowichan Bay British Columbia, Canada
V0R 1N0

Emergency Dial 911
Non-Emergency Phone: (250) 743-7111
Fax: (250) 743-7113
E-mail: cowbayfd@cbvfr.com

Office Hours:
Monday Nights: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Sunday Mornings: 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

CURRENT BURNING STATUS

Crash should be a wakeup call	By: Ryan Smith
When you’re on your way home from the beach, hopping in the back of your friend’s pickup truck might seem like a good idea. It’s sunny out, and the breeze is nice on your face. You’re tired from a day of swimming and lying around in the heat. Maybe you’ve been drinking a bit as well, so you’re feeling careless. You don’t care you are being loosely jolted around in the back. Suddenly the truck you’re riding in begins to sharply turn onto a side street, and it doesn’t make the road. It hits the side of a ditch and you can feel the vehicle losing balance. In what seems like slow motion, the truck starts to flip over. You are thrown out of the back, and the force of the impact makes you hit the gravel hard. This scenario may seem far-fetched, but it isn’t—this exact thing happened in Duncan on Wednesday, when a red Chevy S10 pickup flipped into a ditch turning on Peters Road. The truck was trying to turn right onto Koksilah Road around 6:30 p.m., and eyewitnesses said there were three people in the back when the accident occurred. They were thrown out of the moving vehicle and taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The driver has been charged with driving violations, but the cause of the accident hasn’t been released yet. There is a chilling comparison—last year, the same type of accident occurred, and the passengers weren’t so lucky. In the first week of July, a 26-year-old Duncan man was killed after he fell out of a pickup truck. Eric John Blasko was sitting on a cooler in the back with his brother. They had just gone tubing in Skutz Falls, and were on their way to take another run. The driver of the truck veered to the right to make room for a driver on River Bottom Road to make room for another vehicle, and Blasko fell out of the truck. He was taken to the Cowichan District Hospital in Duncan and pronounced dead. Cnst. Dave Hay with the South Island Traffic Service has seen his share of accidents with people unsecured (cont...)
	Date: 13/Jul/2008 18:58 EDT

MD ball tournament Raises $48,000	By: Ryan Smith
here are many highlights at the MD Ball Tournament and Auction in Mesachie Lake. Every year the bids at the auction go through the roof, for example the Honeymoon Bay Volunteer Fire Department putting down $6,000 for a Chicago Fire Department log book or the Duncan Fire Department bidding $3,000 for a barbecue. There was even a fire rescue kit, donated by Mesachie Lake firefighter Kevin Smith, that went for $1,900 to the Duncan Fire Department. Just as impressive this weekend was that someone paid $160 for something many at the auction didn’t even know what it was. “I think it’s a cactus planter,” said Gary Eve, a Mesachie Lake fireman who works the auction every year. In the end, it all amounted to another amazing fundraiser, with about $48,000 going to Muscular Dystrophy Canada. Behind all the buzz at the auction and the action on the ball field, three youngsters from Langford were displaying the kind of community spirit and social conscience that thrives every year at the MD Ball Tournament and Auction. Brayden Cooper, 6, Jorden Cooper, 9, and Sabrina Hyland, 9, were listening to the auction on Saturday and decided they wanted to sell something to raise money too. “Then we thought about selling rocks,” said Jorden. “We could paint things on them and sell them for one cent up to 10 cents.” Then Brayden went around like a travelling salesman, creating interest, before the trio set up a table. “Originally, our goal was $100,” said Jorden. Most of the rock buyers gave the youngsters $10 or $20 bills and said, “Keep the change.” After the ball final, in which the Lake Cowichan Fire Department dumped Cowichan Bay 20-3, it was announced that Brayden, Jorden and Sabrina raised $121. Their effort moved Nick and Sherry Sohye of Mesachie Lake, whose son Adam has muscular dystrophy. “They said they wanted to help Adam get out of his wheel chair,” said Nick, who is Mesachie Lake’s fire chief. “It’s pretty special that they would do that (cont...)
	Date: 16/Jun/2008 12:03 EDT

Hotel fire quickly doused	By: Ryan Smith
Staff and guests were smoked out of the hotel at the Oceanfront Grand Resort & Marina Sunday around 6:30 p.m. North Cowichan/ Duncan RCMP Cst. Susan Boyes said police were on the scene to help direct traffic around the emergency vehicles in the cozy community but that was all they did as the fire was not considered suspicious. "The cause was determined to be something in the restaurant dryer," said Boyes. Cowichan Bay Fire Chief Dave Ferguson wasn't in town when his crew got the call but after a debriefing with Deputy Chief Ken Bulcock, was well-versed in just what happened that evening. "It wasn't much of a fire but there was considerable smoke," he said. Ferguson confirmed it was a dryer fire that occurred on the second floor. One hotel employee was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation but was later released. The building was evacuated while the smoke cleared but guests and employees alike were all allowed back into the building later. "I'm happy to say that it was minimal damage and I think they were back in business as of (Monday)," said Ferguson. "Our normal procedure is to advise the hotel that they should check air quality to ensure of that before they possibly go back into business. It's just a safety issue." The Fire Chief said he couldn't speak to the volume of smoke because he wasn't at the scene but said his Deputy told him it was significant. "He exercised the right judgement in assuring that everybody inside was accounted for on the outside and nobody was subjected to any more smoke than was necessary." The Duncan Volunteer Fire Department were also called to the scene but that call was just in case, said Ferguson. "Whenever you have a structure fire on a significant building we choose to roll some mutual aid assistance just to make sure we have the resources we need to deal with it, particularly on a weekend when we have minimal staffing and are just erring on (cont...)
	Date: 24/Apr/2008 15:37 EDT

Firefighters put the boot to MD in record numbers	By: Ryan Smith
Valley firefighters deserve a round of applause for raising a record number of loonies for those who can’t put their hands together. “This is just amazing, this is more than we’ve ever done,” said Dave Ferguson, fire chief of Cowichan Bay’s squad, one of five volunteer halls that spent their time asking for cash during last weekend’s annual three-day muscular dystrophy Boot Drive. “Between all the departments, we raised $20,001,” he said. During the last 22 years, the yearly Valley campaign has donated a total of more the $250,000 to charity. And every year Ferguson thinks the bottom may drop out. “I keep thinking this will be the year it tails off,” he said, while happily admitting he was wrong. “The Valley has to be one of the most generous places in Canada.” Money raised go to help those in B.C. suffering the effects of MS. Cowichan News Leader
	Date: 13/Dec/2007 11:34 EST

Monday house fire extinguished	By: Ryan Smith
About 40 firefighters from Cowichan Bay and Duncan fire halls battled a house blaze on Cowichan Bay Road about 4:30 p.m. Monday. Gina Talbot was with her parents in a vehicle when the family noticed smoke coming from the home near the Cowichan Lawn and Tennis Club. The family called 911 and raced to the scene to make sure no one was inside the two-storey home. “There wasn’t anyone inside, but we moved a bunch of combustibles, like gas cans, away from the home,” Talbot said. Talbot said the fire appeared to start near the chimney. “When we looked inside the house, we saw flames between the wall and the chimney,” she said. Cowichan Bay fire chief Dave Ferguson was not available for comment about the fire and the possible cause before press time. Cowichan News Leader - Oct 24th 2007
	Date: 24/Oct/2007 11:50 EDT

Busy Night For Cowichan Bay Firefighters	By: Ryan Smith
It was a busy Monday night for Cowichan Bay Firefighters, at 4:30PM Cowichan Bay Firefighters were alerted to a working structure fire in the 2200 Block of Cowichan Bay Road, upon the arrival of the Deputy Chief it was noted that the was a 2 story wood frame structure with heavy smoke, it was at that time that Duncan Fire Department was requested to attend with a Tender and Engine, crew operated on Scene for approximately 4 hours before clearing scene to return to quarters. Shortly after returning to quarters Firefighters were alerted to a working car fire on the TCH North of the Fire Hall, upon arrival it was noted that there was a fully involved van, firefighters quickly knocked the fire down and returned to quarters. Cause of both fires has not be determined. # 2007-175 2007-22-10 16:45 Structure Fire Heavy Smoke/Fire CBFR Units: E41, T42, R43, E44, T45, E46, U47 DFD Units: U3, E4, T8 Ambulance: 52A1 # 2007-176 2007-22-10 16:45 Structure Fire Heavy Smoke/Fire CBFR Units: T42, R43, E44, E46, U47
	Date: 23/Oct/2007 11:23 EDT

Bale Wagon Fire	By: Ryan Smith
At 3:30 Monday afternoon Cowichan Bay Firefighters we alerted to a bale wagon fire at a Farm on Cowichan Bay Road, upon arrival of the Deputy chief it was noted that there was a bale wagon well involved with approximately 120 bales of hay on board, Cowichan Bay Engine 44 arrived shortly after and had a quick knock down before the fire could spread in the ajoined field. Firefighters operated on scene for about 1 hour before clearing. Units Responding: Tender 42, Engine 44, Utility 47
	Date: 30/Aug/2007 12:23 EDT