At least 18 wildfires have flared up on Vancouver Island after lightning strikes over the past few days.
Most are considered backcountry fires and are burning in extreme terrain, said Coastal Fire Centre information officer Kimberly Kelly.
Such fires tend to be monitored only, as they’re considered a natural part of the forest ecology. One of them at Tlools Lake in Strathcona Park is 60 hectares.
Firefighters are tackling some blazes that are closer to communities, including one at the Salmon River, west of Sayward, where crews worked overnight Monday. No size estimate was available.
A fire east of Cowichan Lake at Mead Creek and a fire at King Creek northwest of Sooke are both under a quarter of a hectare in size.
Kelly said while Monday’s thunderstorms were accompanied by rain in some cases, that’s no reason to relax when it comes to being careful outdoors after a stretch of hot, dry weather. “The drought conditions are going to persist for quite some time.”
Monday’s thunderstorm warning, which included a chance of large hail, damaging winds and torrential rainfall, covered an area from Port Alberni to Lake Cowichan and northward almost to Port McNeill, said Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan.
Some Greater Victoria residents also experienced the rumble of thunder, lightning and periods of heavy rain.
Lighting was visible from the West Coast Trail to Hornby and Denman islands.
Some areas saw “dry lightning” on Monday, meaning it came without rain, which increases the fire risk, Castellan said.
In some cases, lightning can hit dry ground and cause a spot to smoulder — then be whipped into a fire days later by wind, he said.
“That’s exactly what we saw in Quebec in late May.”
A 40 per cent chance of showers along with more possible thunderstorms is forecast for Tuesday in Greater Victoria. Up to a 60 per cent chance rain is expected Thursday.
While there could be more thunderstorms on the Island, Castellan said the “main event” was on Monday.
jbell@timescolonist.com
