It was a fish fry that went awry.

A feathered suspect and its scaly accomplice are the shocking cause of a brush fire in British Columbia, according to officials.

"There is something fishy about this call and we definitely suspect fowl play!" the Ashcroft Fire Rescue wrote in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday, July 30, after responding to a brush fire that started just before noon.

An osprey, a fish-eating bird of prey, is believed to have started the fire after dropping its lunch, a fish, onto power lines. Sparks and the fish fell to the dry grass below, which resulted in the fire.

"We do suspect by the size of the fish and the heat of the day probably caused the rather tired bird to drop its catch," the fire rescue wrote. "Or another suspicion could be that it’s tired of raw fish and wanted to give cooked a try."

The fire department also wrote this as the situation came to a close about the osprey on Friday, Aug. 1: "The judge has not granted bail as the suspect poses an extreme….flight risk!"

Far from the river

The fire department believes the fish came from a river that is 1.86 miles, 3 km, east of the fire.

"The fish had an incredible journey," the fire department stated.

The brush fire, which has since been put out, started as hundreds of fires across the country were impacting air quality in the U.S. and Canada.

As of Tuesday, Aug. 5, there were 755 active fires in Canada, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Feathery suspect (and its fishy accomplice) responsible for starting brush fire in Canada

Reporting by Julia Gomez, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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