Heavy smoke and flame activity persisted from the Cameron Bluffs wildfire, on the shores of Cameron Lake. The fire also caused weeks of highway closures and extensive remediation work. (submitted photo/Jenelle Dymtruk)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

hot and dry

Top Stories of 2023: B.C.’s record wildfire year felt locally as drought persisted

Dec 23, 2023 | 7:02 AM

NANAIMO — 2023 was an unforgettable year weather-wise, as the prolonged drought held over from 2022 continued to make an impact.

While Vancouver Island was spared the worst of the wildfire season compared to many other areas of the province, a fire in the middle of the Island forced the closure of a major route between Port Alberni and eastern Vancouver Island, which took months to fully reopen.

The Cameron Bluffs wildfire sparked amid bone-dry conditions in early June as smoke was seen for the first time from an embankment south of Cameron Lake, with high winds fanning the flames.

While no structures were threatened, flames and falling debris began impeding travel through the corridor almost immediately.

Intermittent closures along Hwy. 4 near Cameron Lake began a few days later, as the wildfire expanded to over 100 hectares.

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Bombers drop fire retardant around the fire near Cameron Lake on central Vancouver Island on Monday, June 5. (Kevin Miller)

A detour around the affected areas was established, adding an estimated four hours to the journey, with little cell service, gas stations, or service facilities available along the detour.

The fire continued to grow in the days following, past 200 hectares, but some brief showers on June 12 helped crews have the upper hand and eventually get the blaze under control.

It eventually scorched over 250 hectares of land.

By June 23, Hwy. 4 finally reopened to single-lane traffic only, however longer term stability of the region was in question.

Delays and closures continued into July along Hwy. 4 due to the wildfire and its effects as rock scaling work began along the roadway.

Impacts of a severed Hwy. 4 were acute for the Alberni valley, as well as the Tofino-Ucluelet areas.

While critical supplies were able to ship west, non essential travel was heavily reduced, having a severe impact on the area economy.

Engineers were tasked with stabilizing the cliff-face along Hwy. 4 to prevent further debris hitting the road and potentially travelling cars.

Daily closures continued through to the end of August when two-way traffic along Hwy. 4 resumed again, just prior to the September long weekend.

An mesh curtain was put in place at Cameron Bluffs along Hwy. 4 in June via cranes to prevent further rock debris from coming down onto the road surface. (Ministry of Transportation)

The only other significant wildfire in the Nanaimo region happened June 23, with a small brush fire near Whiskey Lake south of Extension was sparked.

Ground crews and helicopters dropping buckets of water were able to get the fire under control in only a few hours.

Heat and Drought
Some monthly heat records set in 2023 for Nanaimo included the hottest May on record while August was in the top five ever.

Daytime heat records were broken across the Island in May, including in Nanaimo on May 14, when the temperature hit 32.0 degrees, and then reached 31.7 degrees the next day.

Continued warm weather throughout the month was enough to make May 2023 the hottest in Nanaimo’s history, a full 3.2 degrees higher mean temperature for the entire month.

Heat records were broken in Nanaimo and Oceanside in the early spring, as the temperature hovered around 30 degrees for consecutive days. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

July continued the hot and dry weather trend, as Vancouver Island had its drought level raised to a four, the second highest on the scale, with the RDN moving to stage four water restrictions around the same time.

July also made the record books for heat in Nanaimo as the average temperature was 1.4 degrees higher than usual, making it the twelfth warmest July on record.

August continued setting records weather-wise for Nanaimo, landing in the top five for warmest Augusts on record, while getting less than average levels of precipitation.

A number of daily heat records were also broken, according to meteorologist Bobby Sekhon.

“On August 13th, we had a new record, well we tied the record of 34.4 (degrees Celcius), and that same record was also in 2002. And then on the 14th, we had a new record of 36.4, previous record was 34.1 from 2010. On the 15th of August, we had another record, 35.7, eclipsing the previous record of 33.1 from 2010.”

While the Nanaimo and Oceanside areas continued to avoid the worst of the wildfire conditions in September, the rest of B.C. wasn’t so lucky.

Local firefighters were deployed to the wildfire-ravaged interior, while smokey skies continued to dominate Nanaimo’s horizon.

Crews from across Vancouver Island and B.C. travelled to Kelowna and the surrounding area to help local crews battle and contain massive wildfires at the start of September. (BC Wildfire Service)

Some minor weather relief was provided near the end of September, enough to remove all fire restrictions for the Island, but not enough to improve the region’s drought rating.

The much-needed rain was the “best-case scenario” according to meteorologists, as the mid-Island received almost double the normal amount of precipitation.

In a shift from the summer weather alerts around heat, an atmospheric river in mid-October caused rainfall warnings and flood watches on the mid-Island, while it also helped to downgrade restrictions in water usage.

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