Some firefighters were forced to abandon their posts at the Bush Creek East wildfire on Wednesday night due to a “potential safety risk” posed by a handful of residents upset about a police blockade.
A now-deleted post on X — formerly Twitter — from the BC Wildfire Service described the incident as an “organized effort to dismantle the RCMP checkpoint on Highway 1” near Sorrento on the south shore of Shuswap Lake.
In the post, sent just before 9 p.m., the wildfire service said it was “unsafe” to continue operations there. Crews, contractors, heavy equipment operators and structural firefighters would be “reassigned” to other areas of the Bush Creek East fire and the Ross Moore Lake fire near Kamloops, it added.
“This is the latest of several decisions that have significantly impacted operational activities in the area,” it wrote in a thread of X posts.
“This decision was not made lightly. The safety of people is our primary concern.”
Global News took screenshots of the thread before it was deleted within minutes. By the time a Global News crew arrived at the checkpoint around 10:15 p.m., the crowd had dissipated.
The RCMP confirmed that a group had arrived Wednesday night and “challenged” its officers. The matter was resolved “without incident,” however, with no arrests were made and no charges anticipated.
“It appeared that the intentions of those involved were to overwhelm the police road block and gain access into the area,” Cpl. James Grandy wrote in a Thursday press release.
“Increased police presence has been in place in response to ongoing efforts by some individuals who have undermined BC Wildfire Service fire suppression work through the movement of vital equipment, and have compromise emergency personnel safety through threats of violence.”
The BC Wildfire Service said a spokesperson was unavailable for an interview Thursday due to the high volume of requests it’s currently receiving.
Reached on Thursday morning, Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) chief administrative officer John MacLean said he wasn’t prepared to discuss what happened.
By email, a provincial government spokesperson said the BC Wildfire Service’s tweet was deleted “as the situation will be re-evaluated in the morning.”
“The BC Wildfire Service was informed of a potential safety risk, and reassigned staff in the area to another part of the incident for the evening,” the spokesperson wrote on Wednesday night.
“Crews will continue the firefight on the Adams complex as planned in the morning.”
As of Wednesday, some 557 personnel were assigned to the Adams Complex, which includes the Bush Creek East, Ross Moore Lake and Lower East Adams Lake wildfires. That includes 295 wildland firefighters, 112 structural protection firefighters and 100 pieces of heavy equipment.
Prior to Wednesday’s confrontation, an X account called Community Over Convoys had shared what appeared to be a poster advertising a “Convoy of Truth and Freedom.”
It encouraged Shuswap-area residents to meet at the Shuswap Community Centre Parking Lot in Blind Bay for a convoy bound for the checkpoint at 6:20 p.m.
“We wish to engage in a diplomatic and peaceful conversation with checkpoint officers to seek clarity as to why such a large block. The threat of fires is greatly reduced,” it reads.
“The intention is to start the process of dismantling the blockade and open Hwy 1 between Sorrento and Blind Bay so that Canadians are able to exercise their God-given ability to travel freely.”
The post called on residents to “take courage,” bringing “tractor, trucks, vehicles, elders, teenagers, and children to be a strong community presence.”
Meanwhile, BC Wildfire has said its resources will remain in Loakin Valley, Little Shuswap Lake and Turtle Valley, with additional resources to be deployed to those locations and the Ross Moore Lake fire.
The Bush Creek East wildfire is burning more than 41,000 hectares of land. Some residents have explained their decision to remain within the evacuation-order zone to fight the fire themselves.
Some have also expressed frustration with the checkpoints preventing reasonable access to fuel, food and water to people protecting their homes and livestock, as well as an apparent lack of communication between first responders and those who have chosen to stay.
In a Wednesday video, CSRD deputy regional fire chief Sean Coubrough had implored a “small percentage of the population” to be more compassionate toward firefighters, particularly those controlling the flow of traffic around the evacuation area.
“There have been some instances of threats, abuse, theft of equipment and other unfortunate events,” he said in the public address.
“All we ask, again, is for the public’s understanding that as we gain control of the situation, unfortunately, we have to cast a bit of a big net to get people off the roads, and some really good people are getting caught in it.”
Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Bowinn Ma has also urged the public to evacuate when ordered to do so, stating that “people can’t be doing their own thing,” lest it compromise wildfire fighting efforts and the safety of all homes and people involved.
Some temporary access permits may be granted in Sorrento on a case-by-case basis by calling 250-833-3397. The North Shuswap, however, remains too dangerous for public reentry, the wildfire service has said.