20 wildfires currently active burning on Vancouver Island

There are currently 20 active wildfires burning across Vancouver Island. 

This represents a marked increase from last week when just seven wildfires were active on the island as of Friday, August 14th. 

All but one of these active wildfires are located north of Courtenay in the central region of Vancouver Island. The lone southern wildfire is located around five kilometres south of Fanny Bay. 

Nine of these fires have been deemed ‘out of control’ by the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), while seven are considered ‘being held’ and just four are ‘under control.’

According to BCWS, an out of control fire means the wildfire is spreading or is anticipated to spread beyond the current perimeter, whereas a fire that is being held is expected to remain within the current perimeter and an under control blaze is not projected to spread. 

The largest of these 20 wildfires are the furthest north and the furthest south, both of which clock in at around 0.5 hectares in size, according to BCWS. 

The furthest north wildfire is located near Bonanza Lake, around 30 kilometers south of Port McNeill. 

Luckily, none of the 20 wildfires on Vancouver Island are located near populated areas, although the terrain they are in does pose logistical problems for fire fighters as they are difficult to access. 

Many of the blazes are not actively being suppressed, but rather monitored by BCWS. This means they are being observed and analyzed. 

By monitoring a wildfire, BCWS says remote fires may be allowed to burn as they do not threaten values. 

Of the 20 blazes, 19 were discovered between Thursday, August 13th and Monday, August 17th, with just one holding out since July 23rd. 

Throughout the rest of BC, there are currently 107 wildfires. 

In the southern Okanagan, some of these blazes have reached up to over 106,000 hectares in size and have prompted the evacuation of over 20,000 residents, most of which live in or around Summerland.

On August 8th, the BC government declared a state of emergency due to the current wildfire situation throughout the province. As of this publication, the state of emergency declaration remains in place.