Vancouver Island wildfire threatens Giant Douglas fir trees

A wildfire on Vancouver Island is threatening Douglas-fir trees in Cathedral Grove, located on the western shoreline of Cameron Lake.

The old-growth forest is filled with gigantic 800-year-old trees that can reach a height of up to 100 metres.

The out-of-control Wesley Ridge wildfire was discovered on July 31 and is now 511 hectares in size.

The Regional District of Nanaimo issued an evacuation order on August 2, which affected nearly 400 properties in the area around Cameron Lake, about 25 kilometres west of Parksville.

“I honestly hope that this is something where everyone on Vancouver Island would be standing with buckets, stopping it from burning if it came down to it,” said local resident Colby Rex O’Neil about the wildfire being dangerously close to the iconic Cathedral Grove in an interview with The Leader Spirit.

He has been taking pictures of the blazes and has posted them on his Instagram profile, where his photos are raising some awareness of the wildfire situation.

“Intense and ominous and gigantic and devastating and beautiful all the same time, it’s like you’re horrified that you can’t look away,” said the local photographer.

“I can’t sleep at night at all, because I just don’t know what’s going on.”

“The photos are having an impact, and maybe people think a little bit extra, so I do find some solace in that and a purpose,” he explained.

The fire has grown rapidly over the weekend as it looms over Highway 4, which remains open for the time being.

Firefighting crews are trying to push it back, even using night vision so they can battle the blaze 24 hours a day.

Emelie Peacock with the BC Wildfire service says they’re throwing everything they can at the blaze.

“We currently have 142 personnel responding to this wildfire, which includes 65 firefighters, 2 followers, and roughly 75 structure protection specialists, she explained.

“There are 7 pieces of heavy equipment responding to this wildfire. We have 7 helicopters dedicated to responding to this incident. We also have land-based air tankers and skimmers assigned to the incident,” Peacock added.

It’s the second fire in the area in recent years, with another blaze in 2023.

Cooler weather will bring relief

Officials with the BC Wildfire service say that cooler conditions should help crews in the coming days. But a change in weather comes with risks.

“Next week, it looks like it will be cooling,” Peacock said.

“However, we are still anticipating new lightning-caused starts, so especially in particularly dry areas,” Peacock explained the danger of thunderstorms.

The Wesley Ridge wildfire is suspected to be human-caused, but with containment efforts underway, the investigation is still in its preliminary stages.

Across the province, 24 new fires were recorded over the last 24 hours, adding to what has been a difficult wildfire season.

The Cantilever Bar fire near Litton, which has led to several local evacuation orders, continues to grow and is currently up to more than 1.400 hectares in size.

The Bear Creek fire near Harrison has grown to 224 hectares and is also out of control.

“We have had 801 fires started since April 1, and just over 720,000 hectares burned,” Peacock said.