More than two dozen wildfires burning on Vancouver Island after lightning storm

More than two dozen wildfires are burning on Vancouver Island Tuesday after an overnight thunderstorm caused thousands of lightning strikes in the region.

Fourteen of the 27 wildfires currently burning on the island are considered out of control, with most of the new fires clustered around the North Island community of Sayward and in Strathcona Provincial Park.

Two new wildfires are burning out of control in the southern Vancouver Island region, with one in the Meade Creek area west of Duncan, and another west of Sooke in the King Creek area.

A helicopter and a ground-attack crew are currently fighting the King Creek fire due to its proximity to Sooke. The small fire measured approximately 100 square metres on Tuesday morning.

Kimberly Kelly, a fire information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, says 2,602 lightning strikes were recorded on Vancouver Island and the surrounding mainland coast between midnight and 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Most of the new fires triggered by the lightning are in the remote backcountry and do not pose a threat to people or property.

However, Kelly said there is a potential for "holdover fires" that were triggered by the overnight lightning but will remain dormant until conditions are right to emerge.

Some provincial wildfire crews spent the night outside in the Vancouver Island fire zones to ensure flames didn’t spread closer to communities, Kelly said.

The fire information officer warned that while much of the island received rain overnight, drought conditions will persist and fire bans will remain in place.