UPDATED: A suspicious fire on Connie Road in Sooke destroyed two uninsured vehicles and a boat on Sunday morning. One vehicle did not have an engine and neither was insured, making it “highly unlikely” they’d catch fire on their own, Sooke Fire Chief Steve Sorensen said on Monday. In conjunction with the RCMP, investigators will try to determine if there was accelerant at the scene, and if the vehicles’ windows were broken prior to the fire or as a result of it.
Sorensen said it was fortunate the smaller of the department’s engine trucks was able to negotiate the steep Connie Road, followed by a long, steep driveway with “a really nasty S-curve” to get to the blaze — one of four single-family residences on a four-acre property.
The fire crew had to use more than 800 feet of hose to reach the burning vehicles after the call came in at 8:05 a.m., he said, adding it was lucky firefighters did not have to drag the hose by hand.
By the time the crew had reached the property, the homeowner had exhausted his fire extinguisher and was retrieving his garden hose in what Sorensen termed “a lost cause.”
One of the first things fire crews did was deal with a hydro pole — equipped with a transformer full of oil — that was “starting to smoke” next to the blazing pickup, said Sorensen.
The fire was extinguished before it could spread to a large excavator next to the charred boat and trailer.
The Metchosin fire department assisted in fighting the blaze.
Damage was estimated at about $10,000.
“It’s been a crazy month for us,” Sorensen said. “This was the third vehicle fire in the last three weeks and there were three house fires in six days.”
What seems like a “suspicious fire at this point” on Connie Road in Sooke destroyed two uninsured vehicles and a boat on Sunday morning, says Sooke Fire Chief Steve Sorensen.
