Vancouver Island and the rest of coastal BC will see a slight reprieve in wildfire activity over the next eight to 10 days.
According to the BC Wildfire Service’s (BCWS) Coastal Fire Centre, the region is now coming out of a warm and dry stretch, and has cooler and wetter conditions setting in.
Ultimately, this will bring about a decrease in wildfire activity for the short term.
The weather’s downturn begins today, Friday, June 26th, with precipitation easing over the weekend and temperatures remaining seasonal or below.
As of this publication, there are only 25 active wildfires in all of BC, with four of those being within the Coastal Fire Centre’s jurisdiction and none on Vancouver Island.
The Coastal Fire Centre pointed to two notable blazes within their purview in their latest update.
The first is the West Lake wildfire (V50640), located on Nelson Island along the Sunshine Coast. It was discovered on Tuesday, June 23rd, and is 2.7 hectares in size. This fire is suspected to be human-caused and was declared “under control” as of Thursday.
The second is the Cougar mountain wildfire (V30675), located around 15 kilometres south of Pemberton. It was discovered on Wednesday, June 24th, and is currently mapped at 6.5 hectares in size. This blaze remains “out of control.”
Because of the lower risk of wildfires and the lack of fires early in the season, campfires (Category 1 fires) are permitted in the Coastal Fire Centre region. However, Category 2 and 3 fires are banned until October.
Though this short-term reprieve from wildfire risk is welcomed by BCWS, their latest report on the summer fire season predicts elevated temperatures and dry conditions throughout July and August.
According to BCWS, this spring’s drought and the warmer, drier conditions throughout BC are contributing factors to a potentially vigorous fire season ahead in some regions.
So far in the 2026 fire season, there have been a total of 338 wildfires, 5,185 hectares have been burned and 318 wildfires have been extinguished by BCWS.
The BCWS’s Coastal Fire Centre, which includes Vancouver Island, has taken the brunt of the fire season so far, with 93 wildfires recorded in 2026—the most of any jurisdiction.
This is higher than last year’s number and the 10-year average. In 2025, between April 1st and June 25th, there were only 47 wildfires in BC’s coastal regions compared to this year’s 93. The 10-year average is 45 wildfires in that timeframe.
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