North Island wildfire season winding down

VANCOUVER ISLAND, B.C. – The wildfire season is wrapping up across Northern Vancouver Island.

This summer was the worst wildfire season in B.C. history, with 2,066 fires burning through 1,349,412 hectares of provincial land since April 1.

But Mother Nature, which has been the cause of the majority of the fires due to heat combined with lightning strikes, is now doing her part to help put them out with the arrival of heavy rain and much cooler temperatures.

“Our fire season, I would say, is done,” Coastal Fire Centre information officer Donna MacPherson said. “The weather has helped us a great deal.”

North of Gold River, there are still 17 wildfires considered still active, but they are all under control and 100 percent contained, including the Pinder Creek and Gold Valley Main fires near Zeballos.

The 670-hectare fire burning on an ecological reserve on East Redonda Island is considered 100 percent contained and hasn’t left the reserve. East Redonda Island is located on the west side of Homfray Channel, north of Desolation Sound Marine Park.

“While we haven’t called them out yet, the fires are very quiet,” MacPherson said. “The crews in the area are just in the process of finalizing their paperwork and calling them out.”

MacPherson said the 17 fires are “fairly cold” and haven’t shown much smoke.

“They (the fires) have certainly received an awful lot of moisture and we’re not expecting them to grow at all,” MacPherson added. “We just haven’t quite finished the paperwork and taken a last look at them before we call them out.”