Early indications suggest the forest fire that broke out near Britannia Beach south of Squamish was started by humans, according to the British Columbia Forest Service.
“There wasn’t any lighting in the area, so it’s pretty safe (to say) it was caused by some sort of human activity, but the details need to be investigated,” said Kim Steinbart, a provincial fire information officer.
The fire was discovered on Saturday evening and quickly spread to three hectares — about the size of two football fields.
A crew of roughly 30 firefighters managed to put out the blaze by Sunday evening.
As to whether this indicates another summer of wildfires, Steinbart said it’s too early to say.
“We were looking at the possibility of a fairly early and quick start to the (fire) season, but that hasn’t happened,” she said.
“Looking further ahead into the summer months gets more and more unreliable. If things continue to be fairly dry and warm, then we are certainly setting ourselves up for a busy season.”
She said as people head out camping this long weekend, they need to remember to take proper care of their campfires.
“This fire over the weekend near Britannia Beach is an indication that things are dry and fires can happen,” she said.
Steinbart is reminding campers to always build fires in pits or surrounded by rocks, make sure fires are properly put out when you leave, have water and sand close at hand in case of sparks, and never leave fires unattended.
