As wildfire burns, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw wants no visitors in backcountry this weekend

As a wildfire burns in the Squamish backcountry valley area, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw has issued a warning for the upcoming long weekend.

The Squamish Nation is urging people in surrounding communities to exercise caution and asking potential visitors, including recreationalists, to avoid the area.

“Leaning into the long weekend, our Nation is very concerned about visitors to the area for recreational use,” said Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Coun. SxwíxwtnWilson Williams.

“We are alerting everyone not to visit the area for the long weekend. The forest fires are still burning, the snowpack is melting at an alarming rate, flooding some of the roads in the area.”

1:53 Increasing wildfire risk across B.C.’s South Coast

The Shovelnose Creek wildfire is burning roughly 20 kilometres up the Squamish River Forest Service Road. As of Thursday afternoon, the BC Wildfire Service estimated it to be 38 hectares in size, and classified it as being held.

The fire is suspected to be human-caused.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“It’s about the safety of the people in the area, due to the high volume of the river … we are worried about those swimming as well, not just about flooding,” Williams said.

“It’s not only the general public, we have also respectfully asked our people to stay out of the area. We want to make sure we mitigate (dangers).

“These are highly sacred areas so we want to protect them as much as possible.”

0:34 Wildfire breaks out neat Fort St. John

The councillor said a new focus is cracking down on large-scale bush parties, something that has been happening in the Squamish backcountry for years.

“We are aware of large-scale parties in the past, so now we really want to put our foot down. We want to monitor the area much more closely,” Williams told Global News.

“We are sending out the message, we want everyone to be a smoke signal and share the voice. It is common sense just to stay out of the area when there is a wildfire burning.”

Williams said visitors will “most likely” be turned away this weekend if they try to head into the backcountry.

Since April 1, more than 220 wildfires have burned 1,350 square kilometres. Of these fires, 85 per cent were human-caused and were preventable, according to the BC Wildfire Service.

The Squamish Nation is also reminding the public that target shooting and vehicles are prohibited within the floodplain.