Additional fire crews assigned to Vancouver Island wildfire as blaze grows, highway remains closed

Wildfire officials are sending an additional 20 firefighters to help battle an out-of-control blaze that has burned more than two square kilometres of forest and cut off a major highway on Vancouver Island.

Wildfire officials are sending an additional 20 firefighters to help battle an out-of-control blaze that has burned more than two square kilometres of forest and cut off a major highway on Vancouver Island.

The additional crews will join more than 60 firefighting personnel already on the ground at the Cameron Bluffs wildfire east of Port Alberni.

Several air tankers, firefighting helicopters and other pieces of heavy equipment continue to battle the blaze, which has grown to 208 hectares since it was first reported Sunday.

Light rain proved favourable for fire crews on Friday morning, however efforts to get the fire under control are far from over.

"We'll still be working this fire for the next several days," Bryce Moreira, incident commander for the Cameron Bluffs fire, told reporters Friday.

He said crews have been working to safeguard the nearby ancient forest of Cathedral Grove on the fire's western flank while aerial bombers attack the eastern flank as weather conditions permit.

Much of the fire's growth over the past few days has been in the rugged, mountainous terrain on the fire's southern edge, Moreira added.