More than 20 wildfires burning out of control on Vancouver Island
CTV
Twenty-one wildfires are burning out of control on Vancouver Island Tuesday, with the largest fire now measuring more than 23 square kilometres.
Twenty-one wildfires are burning out of control on Vancouver Island Tuesday, with the largest fire now measuring more than 23 square kilometres.
More than half of the out-of-control blazes are in Strathcona Provincial Park, including the Mount Con Reid fire, which measured 2,320 hectares, or 23.2 square kilometres, on Tuesday morning.
The B.C. Wildfire Service says the majority of the island fires were caused by lightning strikes and are not a threat to people or property due to their remote locations.
A 10-hectare fire burning out of control to the west of Cowichan Lake has drawn a "modified" response from the provincial wildfire service, meaning officials are managing the fire "with the goal to minimize costs and damage while maximizing ecological benefits from the fire," according the wildfire service.
There are currently 430 fires actively burning in B.C., and more than 2,080 have been reported this season, the service says.
Approximately 347 of the active fires in B.C. are believed to have been caused by lightning and 24 caused by people, while the cause of 59 more is undetermined.
The wildfire service says more than 22,200 square kilometres have burned in B.C. this season.
