Fire season is underway. Southern Vancouver IslandB次元官网网址檚 had its first officially reported wildfire on April 5 B次元官网网址� though the small human-caused spot fire near Shawnigan Lake was quickly dealt with.

B次元官网网址淲e had dispatched a response officer who attended and determined that our crews were not required, as the fire was quickly brought under control by people on site who had remained on site until the fire was extinguished,B次元官网网址� said Rebecca Grogan, a fire information officer for BC Wildfire Service.

The fire grew to about two metres by five metres before it was put out, Grogan added.

It was about 1.5 kilometres east of Shawnigan Lake in the Strathcona Heights area, which put it in the Shawnigan Lake Fire DepartmentB次元官网网址檚 jurisdiction. BC Wildfire had responded before they had accurate coordinates for the fire.

Though early in the season, Grogan said it is not unusual, and does not necessarily represent an indication of a difficult season ahead.

The Coastal Fire Centre begins tracking fires for the season on April 1. The area includes Vancouver Island as well as the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast and mid-B.C. coast. Most years there are one to three reported fires in that zone by mid-April.

BC Wildfire has had three fires reported so far this fire season in the coastal region, in addition to one just north of Port Alberni that happened in March, and is considered part of the 2023 fire season.

So far in April, in addition to Shawnigan Lake, there were two small fires near Chilliwack that were reported on April 3 and put out by a BC Wildfire Initial Attack crew. One of those was a pile fire that started under B次元官网网址渟uspicious conditions.B次元官网网址�

Grogan said all the fires so far have been well under a hectare in size.

This is not to say that if drought conditions persist that the area isnB次元官网网址檛 in for a bad fire season, especially considering Vancouver IslandB次元官网网址檚 snowpack was at 49 per cent of normal as of April 1. It is just too soon to tell.

B次元官网网址淎 lot depends on the amount of spring rain we receive, especially in June, which is a key month,B次元官网网址� Grogan said in an email.

The snowpack could have an impact on alpine areas, however.

B次元官网网址淭he low snowpack could mean earlier lightning-caused fires because alpine areas are snow-free earlier in the year with time to dry out and be susceptible to fires sparked by lightning strikes,B次元官网网址� Grogan wrote.

On the positive side, unlike other parts of the province, where fires have continued to smoulder through the winter, the Island does not have any holdover fires from 2023.

B次元官网网址淎nd the precipitation we received in the last 2 months has helped reduce our spring fire risk,B次元官网网址� she said.

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