Two brush fires broke out within an hour of each other Wednesday afternoon.

The first fire was spotted off of Cyril Owen Place, near the Prospect Lake Golf Course, at 2:06 p.m. and burned approximately one hectare of brush.

Saanich police Sgt. John Price said the fire was accidentally caused by a young person, tossing a cigarette.

The person responsible for starting the blaze called 911 and was trying to extinguish it when fire crews arrived, he said. No charges are expected.

The second was reported in the Christmas Hill nature sanctuary off Nicholson Street at 2:49 p.m. The fire burned less than half a hectare before being controlled by Saanich and Victoria fire crews.

Price said police believe the second fire must have been sparked by human activity.

"There's no weather that would have caused this, so the only cause is human error," said Price.

"The ground cover is extremely dry right now, so a discarded cigarette or match could cause a lot of grief."

Saanich saw a spate of three brush fires over the weekend. On Thursday evening, a suspicious fire at Mt. Douglas park scorched half a hectare of grass and shrubs.

Just after 9 p.m. Friday night a tree was reported on fire at Bethune Park. A witness described a young man with long black hair, wearing a black t-shirt and black shorts walking away from the area just before the fire was spotted.

Early Monday morning, Saanich police used their fire extinguishers to control a grass fire by the Quadra Street offramp from the Pat Bay highway. Since the fire was centred some 12 metres from the road, police think it's unlikely it was simply a cigarette butt thrown from a car to blame, said Price.