Osprey Drops Fish, Ignites 1 Brush Fire: Canada’s Unlikely Chef at Work

Osprey drops fish onto live power lines near Ashcroft, British Columbia, instantly sparking a wildfire—investigators confirm the July 30 incident is real, not a campfire myth. Trending queries like "can birds cause wildfires" and "weirdest wildfire origins" now surge. Firefighters’ dry wit: “Maybe it’s tired of raw fish and wanted to give cooked a try.”
Building on the charred trout spectacle near Highway 1, the fire began just 6km south of Ashcroft, where the overheated osprey abandoned its hefty catch. Searches for "osprey behavior in heat waves" and "animal-caused Canadian wildfires" spike as firefighters post photos: a fish, blackened and upstaged by hydro lines, ironically spotlighting avian culinary mishaps.
Investigators confirmed the fish fell 3km from the nearest river—meaning one overheated bird carried its meal across miles, only to deliver the most literal case of fried fish British Columbia has ever seen.