How a fish fell from the sky and sparked a fire in this B.C. village

A fire that cut the power to a B.C. village has attracted international attention for its bizarre cause: a fish that fell from the sky.

Ashcroft Fire Rescue responded to a fire located six kilometres south of town last Wednesday, just before noon. With support from BC Hydro staff and local ranchers, firefighters were able to stop the fire from spreading and fully extinguish it.

The fire department said firefighters and ranchers used about 4,800 gallons of water to put out the fire.

After the flames were put out, crews discovered the unlikely source: a charred fish lying at the base of a utility pole.

“The only possible source of ignition out in this field was a Hydro pole, and so we went over to the pole, and there at the pole was a fish that had been charred,” said Josh White, Fire chief of Ashcroft Fire Rescue.

According to White, about half a kilometre south of the pole, there was an osprey nest, and inside the nest there was “an unhappy camper” looking at what was going to be his dinner.

It was determined that the fish was dropped by the osprey, a fish-eating bird of prey common in the area, who was bringing back its catch from the nearby river, which runs about three kilometres from the fire site.

When it fell, the fish hit the hydro line, causing embers to fall onto the dry grass below, and sparking a fire.

“We 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’s tired of raw fish and wanted to give cooked a try,” Ashcroft Fire Rescue joked in a colourful Facebook post that has more than a thousand likes, leading to stories by The New York Times, The New York Post, the U.K.’s The Independent and others.

White said that upon discovering what caused the fire, he was in disbelief. “It was kind of just like, ‘Oh my goodness, I can’t believe this just happened.’ So I went and wrote a funny story about it on Facebook thinking, you know, my typical 10 to 20 people give it the old thumbs up. I didn’t expect this to really go as far as it did.”

The fire temporarily knocked out power for Ashcroft and, according to White, it could have been really serious if they had winds that afternoon or if the people in the area hadn’t stepped up.

“The quick actions of the Hydros, through the Ashcroft ranch and the highways department, really helped big time in keeping that fire contained,” said White.

“I just wholeheartedly can’t say enough about the people that stopped, along with my fire department crew and our dispatching team, all these people made this work and we were able to have a successful win here.”

As for the culprit, on Aug.1, Ashcroft Fire Rescue released an update via their Facebook saying, “The suspect osprey has been caught and is being held in custody for questioning. The judge has not granted bail as the suspect poses an extreme….flight risk!”

• BC Wildfire Service warns of very dynamic fire situations
• Special air-quality warnings, statements across Canada from Prairies wildfire smoke

Update: August 1 2025 4pm The suspect osprey has been caught and is beeing held in custody for questioning. The judge...

Posted by Ashcroft Fire Rescue on Wednesday, July 30, 2025

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