All 2023 Vancouver Island Wildfires Were Human-Caused: BC Fire Centre

A firefighter directs water on a grass fire burning on an acreage behind a residential property in Kamloops, B.C., on June 5, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

A fire centre responsible for coordinating wildfire suppression across south coastal British Columbia says there has been a higher than average number of wildfires on Vancouver Island, and all so far have been started by people.

“On the Island, we haven’t had any natural caused fires, all 46 have been human-caused,” said Jade Richardson, fire information officer with the Coastal Fire Centre (CFC), reported by CHEK News on June 26.

The fire centre oversees wildfire situations across 16.5 million hectares of land covering the Lower Mainland, Sea-to-Sky, Vancouver Island, Central Coast, and Haida Gwaii areas of B.C.

For the mainland portion of CFC, there has been one naturally caused fire and 31 created by human activity.

Human-caused fires can either be intentional or accidental, said the BC Wildfire Service on its website. They could be started by arsonists, discarded cigarettes, open burning, and sparks from vehicle use, among several other causes.

While lightning and “a rare chance of other natural causes” account for about 60 percent of wildfires in B.C., the service said “human activity causes approximately 40 percent of wildfires.”

On June 27, the service reported a human-caused blaze in the steep hills above Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver forcing the closure of Highway 99 just north of the exit to the BC Ferries terminal.

It added that among the 100 wildfires burning in the province that day, 17 were caused by people while the rest were mainly due to lightning while another seven cases had unknown causes.

Investigation

Richardson told CHEK News that in a typical year, there would have been two wildfires on Vancouver Island in this period. However, “increased fire activity” this year has led to fewer resources shared across the province.

“When lightning comes through, we need resources available to respond to those. And when there’s human-caused wildfires happening simultaneously, it does take resources as well,” she said.

The BC Wildfire Service has said on its website that once a fire is determined to be human-caused, its natural resource officers will initiate an investigation to assess whether the incident was the result of illegal activity.

“People who undertake illegal activities that cause wildfires could be found liable for wildfire suppression costs, damage to Crown forests and other forest or land resources, fines or administrative penalties and reforestation costs,” the service said.

Richardson said in the interview that the general public is good at following prohibitions in preventing wildfires across the province.

As of June 6, CFC has enacted a campfire ban on Vancouver Island “to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety.”

Alberta

The possibility of arson has prompted Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to bring in arson investigators from outside Alberta to trace the cause of wildfires that have been plaguing her province of late.

“I’m very concerned that there are arsonists,” Smith told podcast host Ryan Jespersen in a June 8 interview.

“And there have been stories as well that we’re investigating, and we’re bringing in arson investigators from outside the province.”

In May, a 29-year-old man named John Cook was charged with 10 counts of arson after a series of wildfires and blazes in and around Cold Lake, Alberta, according to the RCMP. On June 7, the Toronto Sun reported that the Quebec police are investigating a possible case of arson in the early forest fires in that province.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.