UPDATE: 10:49 a.m. – A small wildfire reported near Campbell River was a false alarm, according to the BC Wildfire Centre.
“Someone thought they saw smoke,” said Dorthe Jakobsen, an information officer with the Coastal Fire Centre. “We went, we looked, there was nothing there.”
The website of the BC Wildfire Service indicated that a fire near Brewster Lake Road was discovered on Thursday, but Jakobsen said it was “just a smoke chase.”
Meanwhile, lightning was blamed for a number of small fires reported elsewhere on the Island.
A wildfire estimated at 0.01 hectares in the Conuma River area, west of Gold River, was caused by lightning, according to the BC Wildfire Service. It was discovered on Thursday.
That small spot fire is under control, Jakobsen said.
Three other lightning-caused wildfires, each one a fraction of a hectare in size, were discovered on Wednesday in mountainous areas west of Port Alberni, according to the BC Wildfire Centre’s interactive map.
A lightning-caused wildfire discovered in early June on Read Island, northeast of Campbell River, is listed at 17.3 hectares and under control.
READ MORE: Read Island fire reached 30 hectares in size
Several wildfires were also listed on the Sunshine Coast by Friday morning.
The largest of the lightning-caused fires listed in that region is in the Quarry Lake area on Nelson Island southeast of Powell River. It was discovered on Wednesday and its estimated size was 5.44 hectares. The fire is listed as out of control.
A suspected person-caused fire is located in the Cecil Hill area on the Sechelt Peninsula, southeast of Powell River. It was reported on Monday, and was being held at approximately nine hectares by Friday. That fire led to an evacuation alert for a number of homes.
READ MORE: Wildfire on Sunshine Coast threatening seven homes
Conditions remain very dry across Vancouver Island despite recent rainfall, according to a provincial drought levels map.
Drought-like conditions have led to concerns of another intense wildfire season following two consecutive years of record-breaking wildfires linked to global climate change in B.C.