British ColumbiaThe B.C. Wildfire Service said light rain fell on the 538-hectare fire Tuesday, allowing firefighters to “expand containment,” and night-vision helicopters were set to work the fire’s perimeter overnight.Fire has been mostly limited to a ‘low-vigour surface fire,’ but some spots are burning hot, officials sayThe Canadian Press · Posted: Aug 06, 2025 12:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoThe Wesley Ridge fire on Vancouver Island is seen on Tuesday morning. (B.C. Wildfire Service)Light rain and higher humidity in British Columbia have tempered wildfire activity, allowing crews to douse more than 150 blazes in the last seven days.That includes the roughly 538-hectare Wesley Ridge fire on Vancouver Island, which has forced those living in almost 390 homes in the Regional District of Nanaimo to flee. Another 250 properties are on evacuation alert, meaning they must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.The B.C. Wildfire Service said crews made good progress on Tuesday in improving the containment of the blaze, guarding it from spreading to nearby homes and the Highway 4 corridor, which connects the island’s east and west coasts.The wildfire service said light rain fell on the fire Tuesday, allowing firefighters to “expand containment,” and night-vision helicopters were set to work the fire’s perimeter overnight.Officials said fire behaviour has been limited to “a low-vigour surface fire,” but some spots have seen a higher burning intensity.Some residents have expressed concern that the Wesley Ridge fire could reach Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Park, a nearby temperate rainforest containing trees that have stood for 800 years, but the wildfire service says it is not under threat.Evacuation order near Lytton liftedIn the Fraser Canyon, an evacuation order issued by the Lytton First Nation due to the nearby Cantilever Bar wildfire has been rescinded after firefighters reclassified the blaze as being held on Tuesday.Evacuation alerts issued by the Lytton First Nation, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the Siska First Nation have also been lifted for areas around the fire.British Columbia’s emergency information agency still shows an active evacuation alert from the Skuppah Indian Band, and the community could not be reached immediately for an update on its alert status.There are about 120 active wildfires burning across B.C. as of Wednesday morning, driven largely by hot and dry weather and tens of thousands of lightning strikes.With files from CBC News
Rain, cooler weather helping to contain wildfire burning on Vancouver Island
