Wrong place, right time: Barriere helps Ashcroft fight grass fire<\/p>\n
Published 1:00 pm Monday, July 6, 2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not uncommon for fire departments to help each other out in an emergency, but the crew at Ashcroft Fire Rescue (AFR) got a big surprise when they found out who came to their assistance for a routine fire call on June 19.<\/p>\n
At 9:14 p.m. on Friday, June 19, AFR received a call from Kamloops Fire Dispatch about a grass fire at the junction of Cornwall Road and Highway 1 near the Esso Travel Centre. AFR Chief Josh White says crews acted quickly to reach the hall, gear up, and roll out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew it was a grass fire, and we knew what the winds were like that evening,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe were all gearing up at the hall and heading to the trucks when dispatch called us back and stood us down, because Barriere Fire Rescue had already extinguished it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would be putting it mildly, according to White, to say that he was \u201cvery surprised\u201d to hear who was first on the scene. It\u2019s not uncommon for the Cache Creek Fire Department \u2014 12 kilometres and less than a 10-minute drive away \u2014 to provide mutual aid to AFR, but Barriere is 158 kilometres distant, with a drive time of slightly under two hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor about five to 10 seconds I was thinking \u2018What?\u2019\u201d says White. \u201c\u2018Barriere Fire put out a fire we were just called to? How did that happen?\u2019 I was calculating the distance and time and it wasn\u2019t adding up, and it threw me for a few seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n
It soon made sense, however, when White thought about the situation around Lytton that evening, where the Saw Creek wildfire was growing quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized that they were probably on their way to Lytton because of what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barriere was one of several fire departments that mobilized crews and equipment to assist with the Saw Creek blaze; others included Clearwater, Clinton, and Loon Lake. Local RCMP had spotted the grass fire near Ashcroft and had just set up a roadblock when the Barriere truck and crew arrived en route to Lytton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talked to the RCMP after, and they said the fire had been moving quickly,\u201d says White. \u201cIt grew really fast, and took them aback, so when they saw Barriere Fire Rescue come to the roadblock, they asked them to put the fire out. They called their chief in Barriere, and she let dispatch know that the fire was out and had been dealt with by Barriere.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the blaze was brought under control, White drove to the scene in his own vehicle to have a look at what was going on and take some pictures. He noticed the Barriere crew at the Travel Centre and went over to thank them for their quick actions.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the second \u201ccomical\u201d call AFR has fielded in the last year or so, along with the incident in July 2025 when the department was called out to tackle a grass fire sparked by an osprey dropping a fish on hydro lines along Highway 1 near Ashcroft Manor.<\/p>\n