A photo taken Saturday of the fire burning in the Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park. Photo courtesy of Steven Paulson
A brush fire burning west of Langford in the Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park has almost been fully contained by fire crews.
The Capital Regional District says that a bonfire was reported burning first in the area on Friday, by Saturday residents could see and smell smoke.
The CRD and the province sent crews to the area on Saturday afternoon and discovered a 1-1.5 hectare brush fire, they say by later in the day Sunday the fire should be fully contained.
“The fire is under control,” said Mike MacIntyre, the acting senior manager of CRD Regional Parks. “It’s burning in the interior part of the fire so we are working on watering down the edges to keep it from spreading.”
MacIntyre says they found evidence of it originating from the campfire, and that the situation could have gone much worse.
“It’s going to be a scar on the landscape,” said MacIntyre. “It’s always concerning when you get a fire like this with the heat wave coming and potential winds, if we weren’t on it early there is the potential it could have spread.”
The fire is burning between Sugarloaf Mountain and Mount McDonald, between the municipalities of Sooke and Langford. Photo: B.C. Wildfire Service
The CRD says the situation is a reminder of the dangers of having campfires in unauthorized areas.
“The forest is extremely dry and having a campfire outside places that are designated is really dangerous, and has the potential of getting out of control in a hurry,” said MacIntyre.
“In that area that the fire started, you are not even allowed to have a campfire… your not even supposed to be camping there.”
Crews will most likely be working on the fire for the next two days after it is fully contained to deal with hotspots.
To report a wildfire you can 1-800-663-5555 or use *5555 on a mobile phone.
The fire pictured on Saturday burning between Sooke and Colwood. Photo courtesy of Steven Paulson
Julian Kolsut
