The City of Port Alberni has issued a local state of emergency after the nearby Mount Underwood wildfire grew to an estimated 2,036 hectares Wednesday.
The municipality issued its state of emergency late Tuesday evening and placed the Cameron Heights area of the city under an evacuation alert.
The announcement comes after the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District Government (ACRD) already issued a local state of emergency and evacuation order for the Electoral Area F and Electoral Area A regions of the ACRD on Tuesday morning.
The Cowichan Valley Regional District also issued an evacuation order for several homes in the Electoral Area F region.
The Mount Underwood wildfire is located about 12 kilometres south of Port Alberni.
An evacuation alert means people should be prepared to leave at short notice, while an evacuation order means people should leave the area immediately.
More information about the ACRD’s evacuation order, including a full list of the evacuated properties, can be found on the regional district’s website.
The ACRD’s evacuation order area is shown. Aug 12, 2025. (ACRD)
Shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday, the BC Wildfire Service said the fire had grown to 1,618 hectares, just two days after the fire was first discovered.
On Wednesday morning, the BCWS said there was currently “no threat to Bamfield or Port Alberni,” though the fire had closed the road between the two communities.
Bamfield is currently without electricity, and travellers are being asked to stay away from the community to “avoid any additional pressures” on the people living there and for firefighting responses.
BC Hydro says it could be days to weeks for power to be restored to the approximately 500 customers who are affected, noting that it will take time for the road to reopen, and then more time to assess the damage and complete repairs.
⛔️ REMINDER – #BamfieldRd is closed between #Bamfield and #PortAlberni due to a wildfire.
ℹ️ More info: https://t.co/YM8neE0mhP pic.twitter.com/VmueBXFKFQ
— DriveBC (@DriveBC) August 13, 2025
As of Wednesday morning there are two initial attack crews and three unit crews responding to the wildfire, totalling about 70 firefighters – as well as five helicopters, five skimmers, one “birddog” plane and one piece of heavy equipment.
An incident management team is also expected to arrive at the wildfire on Thursday.
“An Initial Attack crew, air tanker and four helicopters responded last night, as well as night vision equipped helicopters and structural protection specialists,” said the BCWS early Wednesday morning.
Firefighters are also working on structure protection for private campgrounds, mills and log sorting facilities in the area.
The BCWS says the fire is burning at a rank four and rank five, meaning it is a “highly vigorous” to “extremely vigorous” surface fire.
(BCWS)
READ & WATCH PREVIOUS: ‘Explosive growth’: Crews battle Mount Underwood fire that grew to 1,447 hectares in less than 24 hours