Just as the summer heat finally hits Vancouver, swimmers are being warned to watch out for stray logs on Westside beaches after a log boom near Wreck Beach broke apart Wednesday.

After the boom was torn apart by heavy currents, thousands of logs washed out into Georgia Strait and then drifted back into English Bay. Eventually several hundred logs washed up on Wreck Beach, Spanish Banks and other beaches by Wednesday afternoon.

Heavy equipment was brought in to clear logs from Vancouver beaches on Wednesday.
(CBC)

Lifeguards on the beaches are warning swimmers to keep away from the logs, many of which are still tied together in rafts of 20 to 30.

"We do have little kids that play on these logs," said Glenn Schultz, the supervisor of beaches and outdoor pools with the Park Board. "The waves pick up these logs. They could drop on a kid's leg or foot and we could have a serious accident here."

The BC Log Spill Recovery Co-operative, and the Park Board, are now working to clear the beaches.

BC Log Spill Recovery Co-operative general manager, Dave Trytko said logs break free from storage areas about twice a year, but what's unusual this time is that they washed up on public beaches.

"The current carried them out into the gulf, as soon as they got out of the current …the main stream of the current … a very strong westerly wind grabbed them and pushed them back onto the beach," said Trytko.

An estimated 300 truckloads of logs broke free and the cleanup effort is expected to take days, said Trytko.