Steep terrain and limited water impact out-of-control fire on Vancouver Island

The BC Wildfire Service says it will keep crews on the out-of-control Wesley Ridge wildfire near Cameron Lake for the "foreseeable future" as they deal with steep terrain and limited access to water.

Beau Michaud, operations sections chief, says in a video shared Sunday that crews face "very, very steep ground with near vertical slopes heading into Cameron Lake" on the south flank of the fire first discovered July 31 and suspected to be human-caused.

Arlen Kanary, operations branch director, says crews have opened up old logging roads and built temporary helicopter landing pads to access the area's "extreme slopes."

Kanary says the lack of water on the side of the mountain due to persistent drought conditions on Vancouver Island has been another challenge, adding that crews have had to bring in water through tenders and helicopters.

Michaud says the public should expect to see smoke from the fire for the "coming weeks, and potentially the coming months" but does not expect the fire to impact Highway 4 connecting communities along the western shore of Vancouver Island with communities on the eastern shore.

Madison Dahl, fire information officer with the wildfire service, says the fire grew to 5.9 square kilometres from 5.8 square kilometres on Saturday, but expects rising temperatures to cause more smoke and impact fire behaviour.