Rainfall has provided some relief for wildfire crews in the Cowichan Valley, B.C. Wildfire Service information officer Dorthe Jakobsen said Saturday.
Crews are continuing to work a fire in the Mount Prevost area at Holyoak Creek, about 13 kilometres north of Duncan, that is still considered out of control, she said.
“There was no growth overnight [Friday] and there was a bit of rain there.”
Even a small amount of precipitation can help, Jakobsen said.
A state of local emergency has been declared by the Cowichan Valley Regional District due to the fire, and limited cellular phone service is posing a challenge to communication.
The CVRD Regional Emergency Operations Centre is staying in contact with municipal firefighting teams and the Halalt First Nation as the situation unfolds.
The fire has so far peaked at 32 hectares after a windy period caused it to spread.
“All the fires in the province have been struggling with wind the last couple of days,” Jakobsen said.
She said “very aggressive action” was being taken Saturday because of the ongoing wind concerns, with five helicopters, five water tenders, three pieces of heavy equipment and 30 firefighters. That was up from two helicopters and about 21 firefighters Friday.
In a first for Vancouver Island, a seven-person “parattack” crew flew here in a fixed-wing aircraft, parachuted in adjacent to the fire and spent the night there. Such crews specialize in accessing remote or hard-to-reach locations, with this one traveling from Fort St. John.
A unit is in place to protect a house on Mount Prevost Road that has been evacuated.
Jakobsen said the fire is suspected to be human-caused “but will be investigated.”
A second smaller fire near the Chemainus River is under control and has gone down to 0.3 hectare.
Jakobsen said the Island continues to avoid the wildfire issues seen in other parts of B.C.
“In comparison to the rest of the province Vancouver Island has done quite well through the fire season.”
She said that in the 2021 fire season, which started April 1, the Island has had 77 fires — 71 of them human-caused. The percentage of human-caused fires is “very high” this year, she said. The majority of the fires have been quite small.
Environment Canada is forecasting a 30 per cent chance of rain Sunday in the Duncan area, followed by at least five days of sun with temperatures up to 30 C.
Victoria is also expected to have sun through the week and temperatures up to 29 C.
