Flying fish aren乌鸦传媒檛 found in the B.C. Interior, but that乌鸦传媒檚 the suspected cause of a fire that sparked a brief power outage in Ashcroft on the morning of Wednesday, July 30.
Just before noon on July 30, Ashcroft Fire Rescue (AFR) was dispatched to a landscape fire on the east side of Highway 1 about six kilometres south of town. When firefighters arrived on scene they found the fire being actioned by BC Hydro employees, as well as ranch hands from the nearby Ashcroft Ranch, who had brought the ranch乌鸦传媒檚 water tender.
The heaviest part of the fire had been knocked down, so AFR crew used their two pieces of equipment 乌鸦传媒� an engine and a water tender 乌鸦传媒� to cool the perimeter of the fire, which measured 60 by 90 metres. About 4,800 gallons of water were put into the area, with AFR Chief Josh White noting that they were all very thankful wind was not a factor.
The fire doused, White turned his attention to the possible cause of the fire, in order to write a report for the Office of the Fire Commissioner. What he found was unlike anything he had ever encountered in his 25 years of firefighting.
乌鸦传媒淒o you wonder why the power was out in Ashcroft today?乌鸦传媒� he posted to the AFR Facebook page. 乌鸦传媒淭here is something fishy about this call and we definitely suspect fowl play!
乌鸦传媒淎 quick investigation revealed the cause of this fire. It was determined to be a fish. Yes, you read that right. The fish had an incredible journey, considering the [Thompson] river is 3km east from the point of origin. The fish had been dropped by a local osprey onto the hydro line, causing embers to drop, along with the fish, to the dry grasses below.
乌鸦传媒淲e do suspect the size of the fish and the heat of the day probably caused the rather tired bird to drop its catch. Or another suspicion could be that it乌鸦传媒檚 tired of raw fish and wanted to give cooked a try. We may never know the answer, but it has been verified that our prime suspect sustained no injuries in the incident and is still flying at large. It should be noted that osprey are not fowl, they are birds of prey. But it made for good clickbait, didn乌鸦传媒檛 it!乌鸦传媒�
White told Black Press that BC Hydro crew pointed out an osprey nest about one kilometre from the site of the fire. He said that the fish 乌鸦传媒� the remains of which were clearly visible 乌鸦传媒� was a good-sized one, and probably hit two of the three power lines, which would have caused embers to come down along with the fish (hitting just one line would not have caused any embers).
乌鸦传媒淚f the bird and the fish both land on two lines, neither survive,乌鸦传媒� he added. Since no feathers were found at the site, he suspects the osprey was unharmed, although its feathers were probably ruffled after losing its meal.
The usual causes of fires along the highway are overheating vehicles, tossed cigarette butts, or a motor vehicle incident, so this instance of wildlife-caused fire was a rare experience for White. The only other similar incident he can recall was several years ago, when a snake crawled into a Hydro sub-station in North Ashcroft and caused a power outage.
乌鸦传媒淭his one was new to me: a fish in the middle of a field three kilometres from the river. It didn乌鸦传媒檛 take much to put the pieces together.
乌鸦传媒淚 had to laugh, though. I just saw a video that Kamloops Fire rescue posted of five beautiful bucks in close proximity to them. They get that, and I have a pyromaniac bird of prey in Ashcroft.乌鸦传媒�
Osprey are piscivorous, with fish making up 99 per cent of their diet, and are more commonly seen nesting beside rivers and lakes. However, retired Thompson Rivers University professor Dr. Nancy Flood 乌鸦传媒� who is president of the Kamloops Naturalist Club 乌鸦传媒� said that there乌鸦传媒檚 nothing unusual about osprey nesting three kilometres from a food source.
乌鸦传媒淲hile ospreys typically nest near fish-filled bodies of water 乌鸦传媒� along the shore or within a kilometre of the shore 乌鸦传媒� it is not really all that rare for them to nest farther away,乌鸦传媒� she told Black Press in an email.
She explained that there are numerous factors involved, including suitable places to build nests, the presence of other osprey nests (乌鸦传媒淭hey don乌鸦传媒檛 like to be too close乌鸦传媒�), presence of human disturbance, etc.
乌鸦传媒淎 study in Idaho showed that about 20 per cent of nests were more than 1.5 kilometres from water, and these nests were just as successful as those (about 60 per cent) built less than 500 metres from water. A study in Germany found that nests were more likely to be built in areas with lakes, but they categorized 乌鸦传媒榥earby乌鸦传媒� lakes as those 2.7 to 4 kilometres away, so not really all that close!乌鸦传媒�
In other words, said Flood, the circumstances surrounding the avian accident aren乌鸦传媒檛 in the least bit fishy. 乌鸦传媒淲hile most osprey nests are closer than three kilometres from water, it isn乌鸦传媒檛 too unusual to find them farther away. Three kilometres is not too far for an osprey to fly!乌鸦传媒�
She added that the distance from the river to the nest might have encouraged the osprey to bite off a bit more than it could chew. Wikipedia notes that osprey typically take fish that weigh between five and 10 ounces and measure 10 to 14 inches, but will take any fish that weigh between two ounces and 4.4 pounds.
乌鸦传媒淎n osprey that far away might try to take bigger fish each time they go to the river (rather than going back and forth for small fish) and the bigger the fish, the more likely it is to be dropped!" said Flood. "They do sometimes pick up ones that are too heavy for them to carry, so they have to then drop them.乌鸦传媒�
That leaves a burning question: does the cause of the fried fish fire go down as natural, or human? Chief White says there is some debate as to how to report the official cause, with 乌鸦传媒渦nclassified乌鸦传媒� looking like a possibility.
One thing is for certain: there乌鸦传媒檚 an osprey out there with a great story to tell about the one that got away (and which will probably be sticking to sushi in the future).
