Campfire bans coming for much of B.C. as wildfire shuts down Vancouver Island highway

An out-of-control wildfire east of Port Alberni, B.C., shut down the only major route connecting the city with the rest of Vancouver Island on Tuesday.

The Cameron Bluffs fire was first discovered on Saturday, and is burning around 1.4 square kilometres as of 3 p.m. Wednesday. It is suspected to have been caused by human activity.

It is among six "fires of note" — particularly visible or pose a threat to public safety — currently burning in B.C. One of those is the Donnie Creek blaze in northeast B.C., one of the largest in B.C.'s history.

DriveBC says Highway 4 was closed outright at 3:30 p.m. due to the Cameron Bluffs fire, located between MacMillan Provincial Park and Koen Road — not far from Cathedral Grove, home to some of Canada's oldest and tallest trees.

The mayor of Port Alberni, a community of over 18,000 people, says Highway 4 is the only significant road in and out of the community, barring logging roads and smaller routes.

"When I went through [Tuesday] morning myself, personally, I could see the flames very close to the highway," Sharie Minions told CBC News. "It's ... just a challenging area because it is, you know, a mountain area as well."

Minions said the B.C. Wildfire Service is taking the blaze very seriously, with heavy equipment and air crews working to suppress the flames.

"There are other ways in and out of our community in order to get the supplies that are needed," she said. "We have a pretty good network of plans in place to make sure that our community doesn't run short on anything that's needed."

Minions says any Port Alberni residents should avoid travel unless it's absolutely necessary, even if the road is temporarily re-opened, so as to not impede wildfire crews.

The highway is also the major route connecting the west coast communities of Tofino and Ucluelet to the rest of the island.

A statement from the Transport Ministry says a detour will route traffic to Lake Cowichan through Bamfield using gravel forest service and industrial roads, which have no cell service, gas stations or washroom facilities. Only vehicles weighing less than 14,500 kilograms will be permitted, and the detour is likely to extend travel by four hours, according to the ministry.

A group of around 50 students from Dover Bay Secondary School in Nanaimo were among the people caught up in the highway closure.

The Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District scrambled to find space in a Port Alberni school for the students to sleep in Tuesday night.

"There were kids with sleeping bags or things they could use already from the trip, but there were some that didn't have, so the community came together from my understanding and had found pillows and blankets for students for the evening," said school district spokesperson Dale Burgos.

Campfire bans coming for much of B.C.

Amid hot and dry conditions for the whole province, campfire bans are coming for much of B.C. on Thursday.

Large open fires — called Category 2 and 3 fires by the wildfire service — are already prohibited across the province.

Campfires, which come under Category 1, include all fires smaller than half a metre in size. The bans do not include the use of outdoor stoves but do prohibit the use of fireworks, sky lanterns and tiki torches.

The campfire bans will include the entirety of the South Coast, including Vancouver Island and the Kamloops and Cariboo Fire Centres in the Central Interior.

Ucluelet Fire Chief Rick Geddes said it is early for a campfire ban in the area, adding that bans have typically started in July in the past few years. 

He says this winter and spring were unusually dry on Vancouver Island's west coast. 

"I totally understand and appreciate enjoying a campfire, especially by the ocean ... but it's becoming increasingly and increasingly unsafe every year," Geddes said Wednesday morning on CBC's On The Island. 

Bans have already been in place for many parts of the Prince George Fire Centre in northeast B.C., but will now include the entire region.

"Camping is a long-standing tradition in this province," reads a statement from the fire service. "The B.C. government recognizes that people also enjoy having campfires, so it takes any decision to implement a campfire ban very seriously."

The Vancouver Park Board said Tuesday that barbecues are now banned in all Vancouver parks due to high fire risk.

Evacuation orders expanded near Alta. border

Two wildfires in northeast B.C. near the Alberta border, both discovered Tuesday afternoon, are now being considered wildfires of note.

One of them, the West Kiskatinaw River Wildfire, led to an evacuation order for properties in Electoral Area D. On Thursday, the order was expanded to include sparsely populated areas west of One Island Provincial Park.

The wildfire is estimated to be burning over an area of 96 square kilometres, 24 times the size of Stanley Park.

The other fire of note, the Peavine Creek fire, is burning over 12.5 square kilometres.