A wildfire burning near Sooke has grown to about 1.2 hectares in size and is partially contained, according to fire officials.

Sooke Fire Rescue and the BC Wildfire Service received calls of smoke billowing from a wooded area on Mount Manuel Quimper, about nine kilometres from downtown Sooke.

Firefighters quickly attacked the growing blaze, which is said to be burning on difficult terrain, while two helicopters bucketed water from above.

“They’re dumping water, normally around the perimeter of the fire and actioning some hot spots,” said Sooke Fire Chief Kenn Mount.

“My crews, we couldn’t get water up to it but we were able to build some significant hand guards on certain flanks of the fire to stop it growing in one direction, until it got too dangerous and we needed to back out.”

The fire is not threatening any buildings, according to officials.

It sparked in a popular recreation area and is believed to be human-caused.

"People need to smarten up since in the Coastal Fire Centre because so far this season, there have been 39 wildfires. All are human-caused," said Fire Information Officer Marg Drysdale.

She added that from Friday to Monday alone, 12 human-caused fires were sparked in the region.

Fire crews were expecting the Sooke wildfire to continue smouldering into Wednesday morning and remained on scene overnight.

The fire danger rating for most of Vancouver Island was listed as “high” as of Wednesday, and the province has announced sweeping campfire bans for the Coastal Fire Centre.