Image: Sandi Sideroff, used with permission / A fire broke out near Island 22 in Chilliwack Tuesday morning, an area close to the former homeless encampment at 45645 Cartmell Road.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Fire near Island 22

Chilliwack firefighters called to tire fire near Island 22 Tuesday morning

Jun 17, 2025 | 8:55 AM

UPDATE 10:38 A.M.: Chilliwack Assistant Fire Chief Chris Wilson tells Fraser Valley Today that Chilliwack firefighters responded Tuesday morning to a report of smoke in the area of Cartmell Road. On arrival, fire crews located a pile of tires and debris burning. Firefighters called a water tanker from Hall 1 (Cheam Avenue) to provide a water supply, and the fire was extinguished within an hour. No damage to any buildings or property was observed, Wilson said.

Original story below from 8:55 a.m. Tuesday morning:

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack firefighters were paged for a blaze near Island 22 Tuesday morning that sent thick columns of dark black smoke into the air around Fairfield Island.

According to multiple social media comments and a Facebook post from a Chilliwack-area group, thick black smoke was seen billowing from a fire near Cartmell Road and Island 22 at 5:43 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Some online commenters speculated that the dark smoke was attributed to tires burning, while someone else chalked it up to logs ablaze.

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Chilliwack firefighters attended for at least an hour to extinguish the blaze.

Image: Sandi Sideroff, used with permission

Island 22 was once home to an illegal encampment of over 40 residents and dozens of trailers and RVs before it was ordered closed in late January 2024. An eviction notice was installed on December 8, 2023 outside of the Island 22 homeless encampment on Cartmell Road in Chilliwack, advising residents there that they could be charged with an offence if they continued to unlawfully occupy privately owned lands governed by a First Nation in Chilliwack. The encampment simply took over Shxwha:y Village’s reserve lands and was never authorized by Shxwha:y Village, its leadership, or its laws.