A wildfire south of Cowichan Lake has grown to cover seven hectares, and the Coastal Wildfire Service says they’ve enhanced their response to the blaze.
The fire was first reported on July 2, when it was two hectares in size and fire information officer Sam Bellion says over the past few days there have been some small increases in size to the fire and they’ve already dispatched crews.
“We have a unit crew on site, so that’s an additional 10 wildland firefighters who will be working the south flank of this fire,” she says. “This is in addition to the two crews working the west and north flank of the fire.”
Bellion says the weather is a cause for concern, and people should be cautious as the summer months approach and the weather gets drier.
“It is really dry out there, so be careful especially as we get into the warm dry months,” she says.
The fire is currently being labelled as out of control, meaning they anticipate the fire spreading beyond the current control line.
The BC Wildfire Service says so far, 36 per cent of fires in the province have been started by lightning, while 61 per cent are human-caused, and only two per cent are undetermined.
Since Apr. 1, there have been a total of 490 fires in the province, causing over 690,000 hectares to be burned.
