The Copper Canyon wildfire burning north of Duncan is being held by firefighters.
The B.C. Wildfire Service updated the status of the fire Monday evening. It had previously been considered out of control.
“What that means is that firefighters have it contained and do not believe it will spread any farther,” said Kris Schumacher, manager of communications and engagement with the Cowichan Valley Regional District. “That five millimetres of rain we got on Friday really made a difference. It suppressed the fire just enough for crews to get a handle on it.”
The B.C. Wildfire Dashboard shows two fires currently burning on Vancouver Island, with the Copper Canyon the larger of the two, at 32 hectares. The other fire, in the Chemainus River, is only 0.30-hectares in size.
There are 80 fires burning in the Kamloops zone, 62 in the Southeast, 58 in Prince George, 32 in the Cariboo, 22 in the Coastal area and six in the Northwest.
Since the beginning of April, the province has seen 1,451 wildfires, with 650,582 hectares burned.
More than 3,500 local firefighters and other personnel have been fighting the fires, bolstered by 364 out-of-province firefighters.
A fleet of 209 helicopters and planes have been supporting ground crews.
So far this fire season, there have been 63 evacuation orders affecting 6,219 properties, and 108 evacuation alerts.
