Campground and marina near Port Alberni, B.C., evacuated as Mount Underwood wildfire spreads
The Mount Underwood wildfire is now classified as a fire-of-note and has cut off the main road access to a community 90 kilometres southwest of Port Alberni in addition to forcing an evacuation of a local campground.
BC Wildfire Service fire information officer Christi Howes said Tuesday that the blaze has forced the closure of the highway between Port Alberni and Bamfield.
Howes said the Bamfield is without power and operating with limited services, and people should avoid travelling there by other means of transportation.
'We don't want to add any additional pressures to the community by having extra people trying to get there either by road or by trail,' she said.
Bamfield is a popular tourist destination for sport fishing and for those hiking the West Coast Trail.
The fire triggered an evacuation order for an area that includes the China Creek Campground and Marina, which has 250 tent and RV campsites and is about 15 kilometres southwest of Port Alberni.
Ladysmith, B.C., resident Chelsea Fitzel was camping with her family at China Creek Monday when they were told to leave.
'We lost power at China Creek campground around 6:30 p.m. as we were getting ready for dinner,' Fitzel said in a text message response.
'Shortly after, the China Creek campground staff drove around on their golf carts with loud speakers saying, 'The campsite is being evacuated – leave your boats, leave your trailers, get in your vehicles and go.''
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Fitzel, who was scheduled to stay at the campground until Aug. 18, said her husband was able to return to the marina at China Creek by boat from Port Alberni to retrieve their own vessel, and police told them Tuesday they could briefly return to the campground to get their trailer.
Meanwhile, the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District said Tuesday that an evacuation order has been issued for about 300 properties in the sparsely populated area.
Regional District Chairperson and Huu-ay-aht First Nations Chief-Councillor John Jack said in an update posted on Facebook that there is still road access to Bamfield through rural roads, but it should not be considered 'a major thoroughfare for public to go as they like.'
Jack added that the power in Bamfield will likely be out for at least 72 hours if not longer, and people currently camping near the community can choose whether to leave but the trip will likely take longer than usual.
'Take care of each other,' Jack said in the message to people in the affected areas. 'Check in with one another. The West Coast is resilient. I know that this is nothing new for a lot of our people, but there's empathy out there and people need to take care of one another.
'How we're feeling is going to be just as important as what we're doing, and so that kind of work is important as well.'
Howes said crews had been working on fire protection for buildings, including at private campgrounds and at forestry mills and log-sorting facilities in the area.
She said the fire is displaying behaviour up to a rank-5 intensity, which means an 'extremely vigorous surface fire or active crown fire' with limited options available to fight the burning directly.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
The wildfire service said in an earlier update that an attack crew and several firefighting aircraft have been mobilized to fight the fast-growing blaze, and structural protection specialists are also on site.
Howes said three additional units arrived Tuesday, while an incident management team was en route and will take over command of the situation by Thursday.
She said the fire is not affecting the resources available to fight another nearby fire, the Wesley Ridge blaze burning near Cameron Lake that had triggered evacuations for hundreds of homes last week.
Howes said firefighters are anticipating cooler weather and some rain in the area later this week, but the situation remains dynamic and crews will be watching the weather 'very closely.'
There are about 96 wildfires burning across B.C., eight of which are classified as out-of-control.
The Wildfire Service said Tuesday that temperatures are well above seasonal from the coast to the Rockies in southern B.C., and while cooler air is expected to move in from the north, it will remain hot and dry in the south before a new system brings rain to the area by Friday.
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