Firefighters who found a charred fish at a fire in western Canada believe a tired bird may be to blame for sparking the blaze.
The fire department in Ashcroft, British Columbia, was called to respond to a “heavy fire” about 4 miles south of the town on July 30.
“A quick investigation revealed the cause of this fire. It was determined to be a fish,” the department said in a Facebook post, which included images of smoldering land and a charred fish. “Yes, you read that right, the fish had an incredible journey.”
The nearest river is about two miles away, but investigators determined the fish was scooped up by an osprey, which then dropped it onto a power line midflight.
Sparks from the disrupted line ignited the dry grass below, the department said, speculating the bird may have dropped its catch because it was tired from the excess heat.
Ashcroft, British Columbia Fire Department
“Or another suspicion could be that it’s tired of raw fish and wanted to give cooked a try,” the department joked.
The fish was thoroughly charred after the incident but Ashcroft’s fire department said the osprey sustained no injuries.
In a subsequent Facebook post, the fire department quipped that the osprey was being held in custody for questioning.
“The judge has not granted bail as the suspect poses an extreme….flight risk!” the department wrote.
The department said roughly 4,800 gallons of water was used to douse the blaze, which burned near the east side of a highway.
The fire, which was extinguished without further incident, was relatively small but smoke from other Canadian wildfires is causing air quality concerns for many Americans in the Midwest and Northeast for another day this week.