Firefighters battling early-season wildfire on Vancouver Island

Twelve firefighters were battling a small wildfire on Vancouver Island Thursday, marking one of the first fires on the island amid what has already been a destructive fire season in British Columbia.

The fire is on Thunder Mountain, approximately 25 kilometres northwest of Port Alberni. Officials with B.C.'s Coastal Fire Centre say the blaze was reported around 6 p.m. Wednesday, prompting an immediate response from ground-attack crews.

As of Thursday morning, the fire was being held at just over one-third of a hectare.

"It is no longer out of control," fire information officer Julia Caranci told CTV News. "We do not anticipate that fire will grow beyond its current perimeter."

Investigators have not yet determined what sparked the blaze but they suspect it was human-caused.

"The majority of the fires we have in the spring are generally human-caused," Caranci said.

"In the absence of any lightning in the area, we know that it is human-caused but we will ascertain the exact cause after an investigation."

The Coastal Fire Centre says a fire in the same region in early April marked Vancouver Island's first wildfire of the 2023 season.

Environment Canada issued special weather statements for much of B.C. on Wednesday, saying daytime high temperatures would rise to 10 to 15 degrees above seasonal averages for much of the province, including Vancouver Island.

The heatwave is expected to begin Friday and intensify over the weekend, potentially hindering firefighting efforts in B.C., where 46 wildfires were burning Thursday.