BC’s Coastal Fires Have Entered a New Era
The Mount Underwood blaze confirms it. Here’s why, and what you can do.

Tyler Olsen / The Tyee
Tyler Olsen is a senior editor at The Tyee. He lives in Lillooet. Find him on Bluesky @tyolsen.bsky.social.

The Mount Underwood fire near Port Alberni wasn’t your typical Vancouver Island blaze. But what is normal is changing.

…

Just hours after the Mount Underwood fire was detected Aug. 11, the blaze had engulfed a mountainside, burning out of control in a region where fires usually stay small and manageable. The fire triggered the evacuation of 400 properties, prompted a local state of emergency, cut off access to the community of Bamfield and sent smoke billowing eastwards.

The blaze eventually grew to more than 3,000 hectares — a mammoth fire by Vancouver Island standards.

Historically, fires have been nearly non-existent in coastal B.C., and the playbook for putting them out has been simple: Find fire. Spray water on it. Dig up hot spots. Case closed. This “direct attack” was possible because of the slow speed at which fires grow in coastal ecosystems.

…