Despite growing to about 1,500 hectares, a wildfire burning on Strathcona Provincial Park’s Mount Con Reid is not being fought due in part to its remote location.
Two lightning-caused fires that had been burning in the area came together to create the larger blaze, said Coastal Fire Centre information officer Kimberly Kelly.
There were also smaller fires in the park’s mountains last week that, like the Mount Con Reid fire, were only being monitored.
Kelly said the B.C. Wildfire Service allows such naturally caused fires linked to lightning to burn if they do not endanger people or infrastructure.
The fires are considered part of the natural processes in the area, she said.
They can be allowed to burn until they are put out by rain or they begin to pose a threat, Kelly said.
That includes threat to human life or safety, or to areas with high environmental value like watersheds or habitat for species at risk, she said.
“We know that this fire is burning in high elevation and steep terrain,” Kelly said. “These monitor-only fires do have a role to play in our ecosystem biodiversity and natural regeneration.”
On the south Island, a fire on Crown land discovered Sunday about five kilometres north of Jordan River is under control at .05 hectare.
“There was a successful initial attack,” Kelly said.
A fire found Aug. 1 at Tugwell Creek, northwest of Sooke, remains under control at 1.85 hectares, while a fire on Quadra Island reported last week also remains under control at 1.9 ha.
The effects of fires in the Interior kept a smoky-skies bulletin in effect in Victoria and and much of east Vancouver Island Monday, but conditions were improving and are expected to be even better Tuesday, said Environment Canada meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau.
Sites being watched on Vancouver island were at low-risk on the air-quality health index Monday, she said.
“Outflow winds from the Interior were pushing the smoke out toward the coast, and now we’re seeing that switch and we’re expecting a bit of a different flow pattern to bring fresher air across Vancouver Island.”
But smoke from fires on Vancouver Island could still impact Island communities, Charbonneau said, and air flow from the Interior could again bring smoke to the south Coast if it shifts back to the way it has been.
“So you’re not completely out of the woods,” she said.
She said that the Victoria area has a slight chance of showers on Tuesday and into Wednesday “but it’s not looking hugely wet across Vancouver Island.”
