A series of wildfires near the north Island community of Sayward that are believed to be human-caused might have been intentionally lit, Sayward RCMP say.
A police investigation is underway, and officers are calling for anyone with information about the fires to contact them.
The string of blazes began with a fire near Newcastle Creek that started in late May and grew to 230 hectares, but is currently classified as being held.
A two-hectare fire near Browning Creek is also burning, while smaller fires along the Memekay, White River and Big Tree mainlines have been extinguished.
B.C. RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said witnesses in the area of Browning Creek observed quad riders nearby, just prior to the fire’s discovery. “Police are looking to speak to anyone, including the riders, who may have seen anything suspicious in the area of the Browning Creek fire or any of the other fires.”
With the Browning Creek fire, which is now classified as being held, police are looking for anyone with dashcam video from July 3 in the area between Sabre Road and Ryans Road.
Even though it’s only July, B.C. has already seen over a million hectares burned this wildfire season — the third-most recorded for any wildfire season in provincial history.
The majority of fire activity in B.C. since the season started April 1 has been in the northeast, but fires are burning around the province, including 45 new fires discovered over the Canada Day long weekend.
“Crossing over the million-hectare threshold this early in the season is quite significant,” said Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations for the B.C. Wildfire Service, in a Wednesday conference call.
“We’re in early July, so we have the potential for our hot and dry months — July, August and into September — to see even more fire on the landscape, with potentially more new starts with lightning and warm weather coming in.”
Lightning is a distinct possibility on Vancouver Island through Saturday, which could add to an already extremely busy wildfire season on the Island, where six fires are currently burning.
Matt MacDonald, lead forecaster for the B.C. Wildfire Service, said hot, dry weather is expected to continue at least until mid-August, after a dry May and June.
While he said it’s harder to predict long-range precipitation trends than temperature trends, July and August tend to be the driest months of the year in many parts of B.C., “so we’re not expecting to get any significant rainfall to alleviate those deep drought conditions.”
“Even if we see five to 10 millimetres over the coming weeks, it’s not going to be enough to alleviate the stress we have in our forests.”
MacDonald said the Cameron Bluffs fire that temporarily shut down Highway 4, the key connection to the Island’s west coast, showed the effects of dry conditions.
“We’re observing aggressive fire behaviour that reflects these deeper, underlying drought conditions,” he said. “Going forward, we don’t see much relief in sight.”
That makes it very important for the public to be vigilant in the outdoors, MacDonald said. “Just be careful when you’re out there recreating in the back country, whether you’re camping or on a motorized vehicle.”
So far, there have been 57 fires on the Island this year, up from five fires by this time last year, said Coastal Fire Centre information officer Gordon Robinson, who noted that last year’s fire season “started really late and it went really late.”
A fire in the Klanawa Valley near Nitinat is deemed out-of-control but holding at 12 hectares, Robinson said.
“We’re still calling it out of control but it’s been responding well to suppression,” he said. “We’ve been able to prevent growth on that one so far.”
He said a 0.3-hectare fire west of Sooke near Otter Point is also listed as being held.
Chapman said the usual break in the fire season from late May into June never materialized this year.
Sixty American and 100 Mexican firefighting personnel have been sent to B.C. to help, he said.
He urged people to report smoke that they believe is coming from a wildfire, referring to the public as “one of our primary sources of detecting new fires.”
Call 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on a cellphone to make a report.
Anyone with information about the Sayward area fires is asked to contact the Island District RCMP at 250-331-6010.
