A small wildfire has sparked around 35 kilometres west of Nanaimo. (BC Wildfire Service)

By NanaimoNewsNOW staff

first flames

Wildfire sparks in backcountry west of Nanaimo

Jun 10, 2025 | 2:41 PM

UPDATE: As of 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 11, the Labour Day Lake wildfire is 5.7 hectares in size and is now marked as being held.

NANAIMO — A wildfire has sparked approximately 35 kilometres west of Nanaimo.

The Coastal Fire Centre (CFC) reports the fire is located southeast of Labour Day Lake around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10.

Information assistant at the CFC Carly Jensen, said the initial report had the wildfire at less than a hectare in size, growing to eight hectares by 3 p.m.

“It is being considered to be human-caused at this time due to the lack of lightning that we’ve seen, but besides that, it’s still a pretty new incident, so limited on the details a bit there.”

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Two initial attack crews, two response officers, two helicopters and air tankers from Kamloops and Penticton are supporting the firefighting efforts, with a total of ten firefighters on scene, according to the BC Wildfire Service website.

Jensen said with the fire danger rating for Vancouver Island currently at moderate or high, it’s important to remind people to be fire safe and obey current fire prohibition rules, especially during the hot and dry weather.

“We are always trying to tell people to recreate responsibly… on a really dry and windy day, maybe that day is not the best for a campfire. There’s a lot of things that can start a wildfire. Internal combustion engines, if the exhaust gets too hot, that can spark something. High-risk activities like using chainsaws… can also create sparks leading to ignition.”

NanaimoNewsNOW will update the story when more information becomes available.

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