Hot dry weather on the long weekend saw another wildfire flare up in the Cowichan Valley.
The Coastal Fire Centre says it was spotted Sunday in the area of Copper Canyon Mainline, southwest of Chemainus River Provincial Park.
Fire Information Officer Donna MacPherson says it’s now at around 7 hectares. “Today we’ve got 33 people, 1 helicopter, 3 water tenders and a piece of heavy equipment working on the fire and it’s 50 per cent contained,” she says.
MacPherson says the Skutz Falls fire, meanwhile, is being mopped up, but yesterday people might have noticed fresh smoke as wind whipped up a section of the fire
She also says this new fire, like the 16 hectare Skutz Falls fire, is person caused and could have been prevented.
A frustration BC’s Chief Fire Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek addressed in a Monday status update for media across the province.
“To have to divert resources and personnel and expose ourselves to risk to address a preventable, human-caused fire is certainly disappointing,” he said.
