A fish falling from the sky has sparked a wildfire and power outage in rural Canada. Firefighters believe the blaze was started after an osprey got tired in the heat and dropped its prey onto power lines, causing a short circuit.

The unusual event occurred on July 30, about four miles south of the town of Ashcroft in British Columbia. Firefighters shared photos of the charred fish on the blackened ground on social media.

They said investigators found that the fish ‘had been dropped by a local osprey onto hydro lines,’ with the resulting embers starting the fire on the dry grass below. The Ashcroft Fire Rescue service said: ‘A quick investigation revealed the cause of this fire. It was determined to be a fish.

‘Yes, you read that right, the fish had an incredible journey.’ ‘Another suspicion could be that it’s tired of raw fish and wanted to give cooked a try,’ the firefighters joked. The fire took hold around two miles west of the closest river – with investigators suspecting the bird took flight after catching the fish.

However, they believe it got tired and dropped its prey because it was large and the temperatures were high at the time. Firefighters added in their social media post that they have verified the ‘prime suspect sustained no injuries in the incident.’ The fire briefly knocked out the power for Ashcroft, and firefighters and ranchers used about 4,800 gallons of water to put out the blaze.

It comes as deadly wildfires have been spreading through France this week. The fast-moving blaze in the south of the country first broke out in the south of the country on Tuesday and has burned some 13,000 hectares of land.

‘It’s a scene of sadness and desolation,’ said Jacques Piraux, mayor of the village of Jonquières, where all residents have been evacuated. ‘It looks like a lunar landscape, everything is burned. More than half or three-quarters of the village has burned down.’

A 65-year-old woman died in her home while nine others were injured, including seven firefighters were hurt as they fought the flames. ‘The resident absolutely wanted to stay in her house and unfortunately the fire quickly arrived and engulfed her house,’ said the mayor of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, Xavier de Volontat, about the victim.

‘People are losing everything,’ said Aude Damesin, who lives in the town of Fabrezan. ‘I find it tragic to see so many fires since the beginning of the summer.’ Meanwhile, in Spain hundreds of people were said to have bunkered down in a shelter in Algeciras after being evacuated from hotels and homes due to fires.

Firefighters were still working to extinguish the fire on Wednesday, having battled through the night to control the blaze that required a team of up to 17 aircraft. The flames began spreading in the hills of Torre de la Peña, behind the hugely popular resort of Tarifa.