A wildfire reported Wednesday night near Port Alberni is being held at about one-third of a hectare and is not expected to grow, says a fire information officer.
The fire, on Thunder Mountain about 25 kilometres west of Port Alberni, is one of 14 in the Coastal Fire Centre region since the fire season began April 1, said Julia Caranci.
All of the fires are believed to be human-caused, she said.
Caranci said that fires in the spring tend to be human-caused because there is not a lot of lightning, which is the dominant natural cause of fires.
“And if we do have lightning come in in the early spring, generally when it hits those higher areas they’re still covered in snow.”
None of the fires in the region so far have been of a significant size, said Caranci, adding the number to date is about average.
A total of about seven hectares has burned, she said.
jbell@timescolonist.com
