Coastal Fire Centre crews continue progressing against a wildfire near Nanaimo River. The blaze was classified as being held as of Tuesday afternoon. (BC Wildfire Service)

By Jordan Davidson

being held

‘Very difficult, hard work:’ Nanaimo River wildfire ‘being held’ as crews work overnight

Jul 22, 2025 | 2:53 PM

NANAIMO — A wildfire south of Nanaimo has been contained less than a day after it was initially reported.

The Nanaimo River Rd. wildfire was reported on Monday, July 21, just after 3:30 p.m. west of the South Forks Rd. intersection on the northern side of the Nanaimo River.

It was three hectares in size by Monday evening, but was updated to ‘being held’ by the early afternoon, and is not expected to grow beyond its current perimeter, according to Coastal Fire Centre information officer Julia Caranci.

“We responded very quickly with an aggressive initial attack, air tankers, initial attack crews and helicopters. A crew did work overnight on the fire last night, and today (Tues) we’ve had approximately 20 firefighters and two helicopters working very diligently throughout the day.”

Coastal Fire Centre officials are now seeing very low fire behaviour on the ground.

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The blaze is now considered a ‘rank one’, meaning it’s a smouldering ground fire with no open flames, according to the province’s scale.

Firefighters will remain on scene as crews shift into a “mop-up” and “patrol phase”, Caranci stated.

“That’s making sure we have a wet-line, so a hose line around the fire wherever it’s possible, and then going inwards into the perimeter and wetting everything down just to make sure that the fire stays within the expected boundaries. It’s very difficult, hard work.”

The Extension Volunteer Fire Department was among the first on scene Monday, later supported by Cranberry and Coastal Fire Centre firefighters, including initial attack crews, officers and a water tender.

Caranci said they have strong relationships with fire departments within the Coastal Fire Centre, all ready to lend a hand as fires care little about department boundaries.

“Whether or not a fire is within a fire department jurisdiction, they can still request us to assist and we do, and then if a fire is just outside a fire department jurisdiction, we may request help or they may help us as well.”

Meanwhile, a wildfire off the northern shore of Comox Lake, also sparked on Monday, was also changed to ‘being held’ at 4.5 hectares in size as of Tuesday afternoon.

Caranci said the fire behaviour was ranked in the ‘one-to-two’ range as of Tuesday morning.

“We did have very good success yesterday (Mon), but we were challenged on the west flank, which was too steep for air tankers to action. Two crews did work overnight on that fire last night, and today we have a 22-person unit crew assigned, plus two helicopters. Air-tankers and skimmers are available if required.”

Of the four other wildfires currently active on the Island, three are under control, with the Nahmint Mountain wildfire west of Port Alberni being held at 19.1 hectares in size, burning since June 8.

The Comox and Nanaimo River Rd. wildfires are suspected to be human-caused.

An open fire ban, including campfires, was implemented on Thursday, July 17, due to an extended span of hot, dry weather across much of central Vancouver Island.

– with files from Jon De Roo, 97.3 FM The Eagle

A wildfire at Comox Lake discovered on Monday was marked as ‘being held’ as of Tuesday evening. (BC Wildfire Service)

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