People in Port Alberni should expect to see more smoke, and more firefighters, from the Mount Underwood wildfire in the coming days as the weather heats up and firefighters move their base to the Alberni Valley.
In a Tuesday morning (Aug. 19) update, BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) said with the Wesley Ridge fire under control, firefighters are moving base to Port Alberni while the Mount Underwood fire remains out of control.
"That is not because the fire has increased in severity or intensity or is becoming more of a concern," Fire Information Officer Karley Desrosiers said at the update. The fire has not grown since Thursday and has in fact been adjusted to a slightly smaller 3,603 hectares due to better mapping of the fire perimeter, she added.
Desrosiers said with the relief from the rain, crews have been working on building guards, clearing fuel and extinguishing hot spots in a 100 foot perimeter around the fire where it is safe to slow or stop the spread when conditions do warm again.
For the fire to be declared under control, BCWS says they need to be confident it won't cause problems for the community in the future.
"Our long-term objective is full containment of this incident in all areas where it is safe to do so to avoid any potential challenges down the line," she said. "Summer is kind of winding down but we want to be able to leave this area confident that this fire is not going to pose any issues or risks to the community."
She added no firefighters have been seriously injured with this fire, but that conditions were difficult with heat in the early days of the fire and rain more recently. Desrosiers added she spoke with crews and said while the rain was welcome, it did make things more challenging.
"Morale can be a bit down but they're happy to continue to do that hard work and they recognize the importance of being there," she said. "They're really out there doing the best job that they can and they're working really hard for the communities."
In order to get crews into the areas they need to go, BCWS is creating pathways using heavy equipment and even creating landing areas for helicopters so crews can be brought in from the air.
Throughout the course of the fire around 150 visitors to the area were evacuated. It was previously reported that no permanent residents were evacuated, but the regional district's chief administrative officer Daniel Sailland clarified there are some long-term residents of recreational homes who were evacuated.
"I want to give justice to that and say this it was their homes and they looking forward to returning as soon as possible," Sailland said.
BC Wildfire Service said they are reviewing evacuation alerts and orders and changes to the recommendations may be made in the near future.
BC Hydro is working to restore power to Bamfield and the surrounding area, but said it could take as long as two weeks due to the extent of the damage and challenging conditions. The area has not had power since Aug. 11.
"We've got close to about 60 folks on site. That'll be vegetation crews and powerline technicians doing the work out there," said Ted Olynyk from BC Hydro. He added they are hoping to have more crews on site tomorrow. "It's challenging in some areas. We've had to have geotech in there to ensure we have stability where we're going to put poles, where crews are working."
Since BC Hydro crews began working, they have placed 15 new power poles and strung 11 spans of power line with an additional 30 poles ready for power lines. They have also been clearing debris. Many of the poles and lines needed to restore power have already been transported to where BC Hydro is working. BC Hydro said 56 power poles and 70 spans of line need to be replaced.
One area of difficulty is not yet accessible to BC Hydro due to safety concerns, they will work with BCWS to determine the safest way to access that area.
Olynyk said there are some BC Hydro crew members who have cancelled their vacation time to be part of the restoration effort.
"They live in the area, they want to help out so they're coming (back) from holidays to make things go a lot faster and restore power to the community," he said.
To get to the areas BC Hydro needs to work in, they cannot use the Bamfield Main Road and must travel all the way around, using the Youbou Road.
Port Alberni's mayor, Sharie Minions said throughout the situation, she has been asked if Alberni has been given enough resources.
"It's such a nice feeling to be able to say 'yes,'" she said. "This fire was prioritized by the province, by BC Wildfire, with an excellent amount of support services being put into it and we're extremely grateful that our community has been protected."
The fire was discovered on the evening of Aug. 11. Massive plumes of smoke were seen from Port Alberni and air quality was affected for several days. While the fire is still considered out of control, its behaviour has calmed since its discovery when it had large, open flames burning across trees.
