Nanaimo firefighters hosed down flames from three blazes Tuesday.

Winds just before 2 a.m. blew flames from a propane heater onto epoxy being preheated for construction work on Nanaimo Lakes Road, triggering a fire in a construction tools trailer.

A Volkswagen work van was destroyed when a mechanical malfunction ignited its engine compartment Tuesday at about 1 p.m.

The fire was knocked down before flames could damage a house the vehicle was parked next to at 719 Nicol St.

A fire that ignited in a couch on the front porch of a house at 13 Gillespie St. shortly before 11 p.m. is under investigation.

The vacant house was boarded up recently after it was deemed a nuisance property by the city.