The fire was brought under control and extinguished with the help of firefighters from the Ashcroft Fire Department and the help of ranchers and employees of the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, a Canadian power company.

Fire officials investigated and determined the fire was not caused by the camper’s carelessness or faulty equipment, but by a fish.

Officials believe a hawk carrying a fish in mid-air dropped its prey mid-flight, causing the fish to hit a power line, creating sparks that fell onto dry grass and started a fire that spread to about 4,000 square meters.

The nearest river, where the hawk likely caught its prey, is about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the fire scene.

Officials are still unclear why the bird dropped the fish, but there is at least one theory.

The Ashcroft Fire Brigade suspects the size of the fish combined with the hot sun on July 30 “may have caused the bird to become quite tired and drop its prey”.

Due to the fire, temporary power outages were reported in Ashcroft, a village of more than 1,500 people, about 338km northeast of Vancouver.

Regarding the hawk, firefighters reported, “our prime suspect was not injured in the incident and is still flying freely.”