Cowichan has stopped burning — for now anyway.
Coastal Fire Centre Fire Information Officer Donna MacPherson has confirmed all four of the region’s wildfires are effectively out.
Crews are still on patrol to ensure there are no flare ups.
The two big ones — the Skutz Falls fire, which maxed out at about 16 hectares, and the Copper Canyon (Hill 60) fire, which ran about 7.5 hectares, are both extinguished but under patrol.
The small fire at the top of Meade Creek and the one at Kingburne (Cobble Hill) are also to the point of patrol.
“Crews have gone in and they’ve cleaned up all of the hot spots that they could find. Somebody will go back periodically to make sure there’s no more smoke showing or any heat showing anywhere,” MacPherson said. “If there is they’ll bring people back in and deal with it but it’s not visibly smoking or appreciably hot at this point.”
That’s not to say the fires couldn’t be burning underground, however. That’s why crews are keeping an eye on the areas.
“It’s possible that a root or something underground is hidden right now,” she said. But overall, “It is good news.”
MacPherson noted Cowichan is still one of the Coastal Fire Centre’s drier areas so it’s nice to see some rain falling on the region.