Rebuilding process in the Shuswap following wildfires expected to be lengthy

Months after a fire ripped through the Shuswap, B.C., community, impacted residents will be facing new challenges as rebuilding begins.

Shuswap resident Jim Cooperman says he was lucky enough that his home survived the Bush Creek East wildfire, however, he is now watching as many of his neighbours who did lose their homes go through the rebuilding process.

“Some of them are staying with friends who have a spare house or there’s one set of neighbours living in the basement of one of the homes that survived, two have purchased trailers but the water system is struggling so there is no water up there now,” said Cooperman.

To speed up the rebuilding process, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District lifted a temporary moratorium on building permits in the south Adams Lake and Shuswap Lake areas to conduct geotechnical assessments.

The assessments revealed that the North Shuswap is at an increased risk of unstable grounds, as well as some of its surrounding areas.

“That’s because when a wildfire of that magnitude goes through an area it really burns out the root systems of trees and destabilizes the slopes,” said Tracy Hughes, CSRD communications coordinator.

According to the CSRD, prior to the wildfires, developers in the North Shuswap were already stretched thin, Hughes says that the area is one of high growth, which means rebuilding could take even longer.

“We’re hearing anecdotally from builders and contractors for things like drywall and framing that there were longer wait times than normal and unfortunately the loss of these 176 homes is going to put more pressure on these local trades,” said Hughes.

Moving forward, one of the biggest concerns for the regional district is the increased risk of landslides following the massive wildfire.

“That is becoming part of our emergency plans and our planning process moving into the spring,” said Hughes.

“Winter is a good time when things freeze they kind of tend to be stable, but spring freshet is going to be an area of concern and something we’re going to be monitoring very closely.”