32 wildfires now burning on Vancouver Island following weekend lightning storm

In the last two weeks the number of wildfires on Vancouver Island has grown from seven to 32 due to lightning strikes. 

Though the thunderstorm over Victoria on Saturday, August 22nd was spectacular to watch, it was the cause of several new wildfires spanning as far north as Parksville. 

Last week, another thunderstorm caused numerous other wildfires to spark in the central region of the island, just west of Campbell River. 

Most of these new wildfires are small in size and being monitored rather than directly responded to due to the difficult terrain they burn in, and being far from populated areas or key infrastructure. 

All wildfires in the southern island region are estimated at being 0.009 hectares or less in size save one which is around 0.1 hectare. 

Up island, there are a few that range between 39 hectares in size and just over 10 hectares. 

Of all the Vancouver Island wildfires, 10 are deemed to be ‘out of control’ by the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), 10 are ‘being held’ and 12 are considered to be ‘under control.’

In anticipation of more wildfires being ignited by the weekend’s thunderstorms, the BC government has opted to extend the current state of emergency until Saturday, August 29th. 

The Province said the extension follows advice from emergency-management officials and will help ensure the government will continue to have access to emergency powers under the Emergency and Disaster Management Act if they are required.

As of this publication, no emergency orders have needed to be issued under the state of emergency to respond to the current wildfire situation. 

Despite not having to issue any emergency orders, the Province noted that maintaining the state of emergency ensures the tools needed to respond quickly will remain available as wildfire conditions continue to evolve.

In the southern Okanagan region there are still several massive wildfires active that are up to 67,000 hectares in size. Over 20,000 residents have had to be evacuated due to the Bald Range wildfire burning just north of Penticton alone. 

The largest blaze in BC is the Pear Lake wildfire, which is currently estimated at being over 164,000 hectares. 

As of this publication, there are 180 active wildfires throughout the province.