(Firefighter at work Wednesday afternoon at Mount Prevost)
Provincial wildfire response on Mount Prevost now in final stages
Natural Resource Officers on site to investigate potential 'firearms use' as cause
Wildfire crews on Wednesday were in the final stages of their response to a wildfire on the north side of Mount Prevost in the Municipal Forest Reserve.
Six Mountains visited the wildfire site late Wednesday afternoon prior to today’s closing of the gates to motorized vehicles for the summer season.
Crews were busy extinguishing lingering hot spots in a burned clearcut. No helicopters were deployed.
Crews used portable, collapsible reservoirs to supply water to the burn area.
(Collapsible water reservoir at Mount Prevost wildfire site)
On Monday, the wildfire was described as one hectare and out of control.
Today, the wildfire is under control, covering an area of 2.23 hectares.
The BC Wildfire Service posted a statement today saying there are two initial-attack crews on site. "This fire is under control, and good progress continues to be made."
An investigation is underway into the cause.
The statement also said: "Natural Resource Officers are on site as this wildfire is being investigated as it may be related to firearms use."
Any information related to this fire can be reported to the RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.
In a gravel area in the middle of the burned clearcut one could detect a campfire site and numerous shotgun shell hulls on the ground.
How long they'd been there is unclear.
"This is why they bring in specialized fire investigators to review the site and do the best they can with fire cause and origin based on what they find as part of their investigation," said Shaun Mason, director of parks and recreation for North Cowichan.
(Campfire, shotgun shell hulls at Mount Prevost wildfire site)
But they are evidence of an ongoing issue in the 5,000-hectare forest reserve.
The municipality posts signs warning against target shooting and campfires, but such activities continue.
"There are lots of activities that take place on Mount Prevost and the surrounding areas that we do not condone," Mason said. "But we do the best we can to patrol and discourage such activities.”
(Part of the wildfire site on Mount Prevost)
Mason added: "As for shotgun versus rifles more likely to start a fire, either type of gun could be used to target/hit various items that could explode or cause a fire, such as exploding targets, fuel/propane tanks etc."
Municipal forestry staff will assess the area next week and make a plan to replant later this fall or spring 2027, he said.
(Target shooting restricted in Utah due to wildfire concerns: https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/target-shooting-temporarily-restricted-in-16-utah-counties-due-to-wildfire-risks )
(Firefighter at work Wednesday afternoon at Mount Prevost)
In August 2018, an arsonist is thought to have caused a wildfire on Maple Mountain in the Municipal Forest Reserve.
According to a North Cowichan forestry report, fighting the 5.9-hectare wildfire cost the municipality $122,314 and the BC Wildfire Service about $210,000.
In August 2021, the Copper Canyon wildfire (also considered human caused) on Mosaic private forest lands on the back side of Mount Sicker burned 32 hectares.
The province paid more than $800,000 fighting that fire.
Mosaic said at the time it "spent money in that same order of magnitude through our own staff, contractors, equipment and supplies under the command of the province."
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— Larry Pynn, July 9, 2026
(Note: on June 13, 2026, sixmountains.ca won a Canadian Association of Journalists gold award for best community-based investigative journalism for a series on an unauthorized landfill on Cowichan Tribes reserve land in North Cowichan. https://www.sixmountains.ca/article/fa79807e-83f7-49a9-89ae-996360e06248 )