The BC Wildfire Service told CHEK News they received a report of a fire burning inside View Royal Park around 6:30 a.m., causing limited public access to Main Beach and Seymour Hill. “Effective immediately, areas within Thetis Lake Regional Park are closed to public access in support of ongoing fire suppression activities,” the Capital Regional District (CRD) said in a statement, urging visitors to follow instructions of the staff on site. According to Coastal Fire Intelligence Officer Gordon Robinson, the fire was about one hectare in size at 9am. That means it was bigger than a spot fire. Robinson said firefighters from the Royal View Fire Department are working to contain the flames, with a first attack crew from BC Wildfire also on scene. READ ALSO: Fort Rodd Hill fire in Colwood a reminder of how dry it is on Vancouver Island Crews will be able to determine what started the fire, however, “it was probably human-caused,” Robinson said, adding, “I don’t think there’s been lightning in this area recently.” That can’t be said for other parts of Vancouver Island, where lightning is the suspected cause of many wildfires – some of which are currently classified as “out of control” on the BC Wildfire Dashboard, especially in and around Strathcona Regional Park. An out-of-control fire on the Nimpkish River south-east of Woss has grown to 25 hectares, while another out-of-control fire at Golden Hinde south-east of the Gold River has grown to 40 hectares. “We’ve had a lot of small lightning-started fires in the mid and north island,” Robinson said, also noting that fire activity this season has been “fairly moderate.” There has been an increase in the number of wildfires burning across BC, with 332 in the last week alone. Of the province’s 1,283 fires so far this year, 920 are suspected to have been caused by lightning, while 278 are suspected to be human-caused. In the Coastal Fire Center, there are 44 active wildfires. CHEK News has reached out to View Royal Fire and will update this story when more information becomes available. (BC Wildfire Dashboard screenshot)
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