On Tuesday evening, the Malahat was closed down in both directions due to wildfires beside the highway just north of the Malahat Skywalk.
There were three wildfires ranging in size and in close proximity along the shoulder of the highway. Due to dry conditions, they could have spread quickly, but multiple fire crews responded and tackled the three blazes before they could get out of hand.
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However, because there were multiple fires and no natural cause can be discerned, the BC RCMP says that the wildfire is being considered suspicious.
While Emcon Services shut down traffic in both directions, Malahat Fire Rescue, Mill Bay Fire Rescue and crews from the BC Wildlife Service worked on suppressing the blaze which was successfully put out around 9:30 p.m.
As of this publication, there are 367 wildfires in BC with 12 on Vancouver Island itself. Only one of those fires is considered to be ‘out of control’ and that is one of six wildfires that are within Strathcona Provincial Park.
Those six fires are all in areas that are too difficult for crews to access and all are considered quite small, so for now, the BC Wildfire Service is monitoring them and will attack them if they encroach on trails or other infrastructure.
