Port Alberni’s Mayor Sharie Minions said supplies, food and gas are coming into the community via an alternative route after the only highway in the area was closed due to a wildfire.
It’s day five of Highway 4 being closed due to the Cameron Bluffs wildfire on Vancouver Island.
Minions is strongly urging community members to not hoard as it could lead to shortages of food and gas.
“Supplies are coming. They may be delayed but we are not cut off,” she told Global News.
“We are still low. Fuel is coming into the community but it is coming in at a lesser capacity.
“We are really asking residents to conserve right now. Only buy what you need.”
Highway 4 is the key highway connecting Port Alberni and the coastal communities of Tofino and Ucluelet to the rest of Vancouver Island.
The mayor said a number of fuel trucks are making their way to Port Alberni on Saturday.
She also said she has been in contact with the province to help expedite more goods making their way onto local shelves.
“The new news from the province (Saturday) morning is that there is a collaborative effort coming where there will be a large shipment of goods into the community,” she said.
“We are anticipating that the shipment will be much larger than what we’ve seen over the past couple of days.”
The Ministry of Transportation announced it will be conducting four piloted convoys for essential goods Saturday afternoon. A piloted convoy is a shipment that is accompanied by government vehicles.
“Four piloted convoys, specifically for commercial vehicles, will be guided along the detour route, to and from Port Alberni. These scheduled convoys will occur daily until further notice,” ministry staff said in a release.
The piloted departure times are as follows:
- daily at 5 a.m. leaving Lake Cowichan
- daily at 10 a.m. leaving Port Alberni
- daily at 3 p.m. leaving Lake Cowichan
- daily at 8 p.m. leaving Port Alberni
Commercial vehicles will also be permitted to travel outside of these windows, however, there will be no pilot vehicles at those times.
The nearby Tseshaht First Nation is also urging its residents to conserve and leave enough supplies, goods and gas for everyone.
“We are urging for essential travel only. This is due to the limitation we have on fuel,” said Lisa Hassall, an elected Tseshaht council member.
“We did get a fuel delivery this morning but we do have a limit $50 limit on fuel at our gas station, right now,” she said Saturday.
Highway 4 remains closed without a timetable for reopening. According to DriveBC, the highway will be assessed on Monday.
Detour route information can be viewed at tranbc.ca. The detour route is a forest service logging road and drivers are being warned that it could be slow going and the road is not paved.
Conditions have improved for the out-of-control Cameron Bluffs wildfire, which is burning just above Highway 4, roughly 10 kilometres east of Port Alberni.
“Cooler temperatures and higher relative humidity are helping crews action the fire and work on containment lines on all flanks,” BC Wildfire Service staff said in an update.
“Fire behaviour is decreased and is currently displaying a smouldering ground fire with some open flame.”
“Some precipitation fell in the Cameron Bluff area on June 9, the fire area received 15 mm of rain overnight, and more is expected on June 10.”
The wildfire was an estimated 208 hectares as of 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and is suspected to be human-caused.