Brush fires that closed stretch of Malahat highway deemed suspicious

Multiple brush fires that forced the closing of a section of the Malahat highway on Tuesday night have been deemed to be suspicious by the Malahat Fire Department. 

The closed section was between Whittaker Road and Mill Bay Road for about seven kilometres, DriveBC said. The fires were in the area of the Split Rock pullout. While the Malahat section was closed, motorists were invited to detour via Shawnigan Lake Road. 

The Malahat Fire Department told CHEK News that it was alerted about 6:50 p.m. and that Mill Bay firefighters and the B.C. Wildfire Service assisted at the fire scene.

At about 10 p.m. the fires were reported to be out, and the Malahat was fully reopened to two-way traffic.

Fire officials asked anyone who saw suspicious activity in the area to contact Shawnigan Lake RCMP. 

Malahat highway near skywalk @DriveBC_VI #vanisle @TheQdotFM @CHEK_News pic.twitter.com/1BN9jClxdn

— Ron McNeil (@DzynrRon) August 16, 2023