North Vancouver smoke is from movie production – not fire: officials

A photo posted to reddit by user SuperRonnie2 shows smoke visible from Vancouver.

A movie shoot – not a wildfire – was responsible for smoke spotted over North Vancouver Wednesday, officials confirmed.

Several posts to social media raised the spectre of a forest fire in nearby Lynn Valley, after smoke was spotted from across the water in English Bay.

But a spokesperson for the city's fire department told CTV News a production was being filmed in Greenwood Park, which is in the Central Lonsdale area.

The fire danger rating in Metro Vancouver – as is the case for almost all of the southern part of the province – is either high or extreme. Across the province, there are more than 400 wildfires burning, but the BC Wildfire Service said in its provincial situation report Wednesday that conditions have improved as most of the province sees a reprieve from unseasonably hot, dry weather.

"The current weather will provide an opportunity for our crews to make progress on incidents across the province," the update said.

"By Thursday, we will be seeing the coolest temperatures in over a month across B.C."

There are six wildfires burning in the Coastal Fire Centre, the region that includes the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. All of them sparked within the past two days, but only one is considered out of control. The Old Man Lake fire in the Sooke Potholes Regional Park, west of Victoria, has grown to an estimated size of 169 hectares.

There are a total of 434 active fires Wednesday and 80 per cent of them have been classified as lightning-caused. A campfire ban is in effect across the province, brought in as a heat wave descended on the province earlier this month in order to reduce the risk of human-caused blazes.