Chemainus Fire Department responded to two calls a short time apart Monday afternoon.
“The first call came in as a structure fire, but was a cold chimney fire with very minimal smoke,” noted Martin Drakeley, the manager of fire and bylaw services for the Municipality of North Cowichan.
“The second call was a (motor vehicle incident) with fire assisting BC Ambulance Service with removal of one patient and doing traffic control.”
Chemainus had two trucks, backed up by another from the Crofton Fire Department, at the scene of the chimney fire along Chemainus Road in Saltair. Firefighters made a thorough check before departing and it wasn’t necessary to unravel any hoses by the time they got there around 2:30 p.m.
The motor vehicle accident occurred at Henry Road on the Trans-Canada Highway around 4 p.m. One person was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Firefighters blocked access to the TCH from the east side of Henry Road, forcing drivers to turn around at that point, while ambulance personnel attended to the injured person.
Another incident involving ambulance and police less than an hour later was a medical emergency in Crofton, but no further details were being provided.