The fire, which is now estimated to be 2,156 hectares in size, is exhibiting “extreme fire behaviour,” the BC Wildfire Service said on Wednesday.
In addition, more growth is expected for this fire on Wednesday, according to wildfire officials.
The City of Port Alberni, the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District and the Tseshaht First Nation have all issued local states of emergency due to the growing blaze.
An air quality advisory has been issued due to the wildfire smoke for inland Vancouver Island, east Vancouver Island from Nanoose Bay to Fanny Bay and for the Sunshine Coast from Saltery Bay to Powell River.
A shift in the winds has now pushed the fire more from the south to the north, which has led crews to focus on the northwest flank, which is closest to Port Alberni.
Story continues below advertisement
2:11
Fast-growing wildfire forces evacuations, closes roads near Port Alberni
Karley Desrosiers, a fire information officer with the BC wildfire Service said crews are removing trees, shrubs and vegetation to establish a guard.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
She said while there is some rain in the forecast, it is unclear at this time how much, but it won’t be enough to penetrate the ground and help extinguish the fire.
Desrosiers said the east flank of the fire is producing the largest amount of smoke and growth and the fire is burning in incredibly challenging terrain for crews.
There are 64 ground crews working on the fire with heavy equipment and helicopters bucketing and air tankers are available as required, Desrosiers added.
“This fire is quite unusual in terms of size already,” she said. “It’s not common to have fires in the thousands of hectares on Vancouver Island but we can attribute that to the drought.”
Story continues below advertisement
Desrosiers said little rain has fallen in this area of B.C. since May.
“With that drought, while the rest of the province has experienced more intense drought conditions, over the past couple of years the Coastal Fire Centre region has managed to avoid those similar drought conditions, but with that absence of rain since May that has certainly resulted in that aggressive fire behaviour and I would say, certainly, not in recent history, to have a fire grow to this size and this quickly and exhibit this extreme fire behaviour.”
Trending Now
1st day of Trump’s D.C. takeover sees arrests, U.S. troops in streets
Air Canada says talks with union at ‘impasse’ as ‘devastating’ strike looms
Port Alberni’s Cameron Heights neighbourhood is under evacuation alert and residents in that area must be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.
An evacuation order that covers a large but sparsely populated rural area is also in effect.
The China Creek Campground and the marina was ordered to be evacuated on Monday.
Port Alberni resident Rick Semchuk told Global News that he visited the waterfront to take some photographs on Monday and returned to evacuation orders.
“By the time I got back, the marina crew was already driving around in their golf carts, telling everyone to get out,” he said. “We got out in about fifteen minutes.”
1:27
Out-of-control Mount Underwood wildfire closes roads, cuts off power to Bamfield
The road between Port Alberni and Bamfield remains closed due to the fire.
Story continues below advertisement
More than 500 BC Hydro customers in Bamfield and the surrounding First Nations villages also remain without power.
”I said to someone earlier today, I personally can’t look out a window without seeing the plumes of smoke and I think many people are in that same situation,” Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions said.
“And I know that that comes with extreme discomfort.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.