The road to Bamfield is now expected to reopen by Oct. 24, two and a half months after the only southbound land route to Bamfield, Anacla and Nitinaht was shut off due to the Mount Underwood forest fire.
Announced by the province on Oct. 9, the road’s reopening is set to occur one week sooner than initially expected, as “significant progress has been made in recent weeks,” according to a press release from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
“More than 1,000 dangerous trees have been safely removed from the slope alongside the corridor, with some trees measuring up to half a metre in diameter,” stated the ministry. “This crucial work will continue through the week of Oct. 12-18.”
“Also in the past week, crews identified a sinkhole caused by burning organic material within the road base,” added the ministry. “Repairs to this section will begin when tree removal in the area is complete.”
Bamfield Main has been closed since Aug. 11, when the Mount Underwood wildfire emerged south of Port Alberni, near the China Creek Campground and Marina. Fueled by exceptionally dry forest conditions and sweltering heat, within days the wildfire grew to over 3,600 hectares, making it the most concerning ‘wildfire of note’ in the province at the time.
The power was also shut off to Bamfield, the Huu-ay-aht village of Anacla and the Ditidaht village of balaac̓adt at Nitinaht Lake, but BC Hydro restored electricity to these communities on Aug. 23. Power lines that were temporarily set up along the road to restore electricity still need to be relocated, noted the ministry.
The wildfire affected 1.5 kilometres of the road, a section owned by Mosaic Forest Management. Although Mosaic is normally responsible for this part of the road, the province has since assumed control of repairs and hazard mitigation - a process that the ministry has compared to restoring Highway 4 after it was damaged by the Cameron Bluffs wildfire in the summer of 2023.
“The ministry is conducting repair work under authority granted by the Transportation Act to ensure the road is made safe as quickly and efficiently as possible,” stated the Ministry of Transportation in an e-mail to Ha-Shilth-Sa.
Bamfield Main sees an average of approximately 200 vehicles a day in the winter and 550 in the summer, according to the Ministry of Transportation. The road’s closure has forced those living in and visiting southwestern Vancouver Island communities to use a provincially approved route from Lake Cowichan. A series of often-rugged logging roads that begin west of Youbou, this detour has added many hours to those seeking the services they regularly rely on in Port Alberni. On Oct. 5 a group of Bamfield residents defied the closure to walk through the roadblock and see the damage for themselves. They identified a detour that Mosaic is using for forestry activities, asking why this isn’t being shared with the public.
After this was reported Mosaic issued a statement on Oct. 9, saying that no permits will be issued for public use of the logging road, as it is intended for industrial drivers with “specialized training, radio-equipped vehicles and safety gear.”
“We understand people are frustrated seeing what appears to be a driveable road,” stated D’Arcy Henderson, Mosaic’s chief operating officer and senior vice-president of Timberlands. “But we’ve identified dangerous trees and boulders that could fall at any time. Making the Brenner corridor safe for public use would require the same weeks of intensive work currently underway on Bamfield Main. We cannot split our resources and double the timeline.”
Huu-ay-aht Chief Councillor John Jack added his voice to Mosaic’s press release.
“Safety must be our top priority as we work toward reconnecting our communities,” he said. “We need to remain patient and allow all the technical experts to complete the necessary work on Bamfield Main. We thank everyone for their continued patience.”
Many have died on Bamfield Main since forestry companies built the road in the early 1970s, including at least nine Huu-ay-aht members. A bus crash that killed two University of Victoria students in 2019 pushed the province to seriously look at improving the road, leading to over $40 million in upgrades that replaced the gravel and dirt washboard-like surface with a smoother and durable chip-sealed coat.
Despite all this work building up the 77-kilomtre road, tragedy struck again last year when heavy rain submerged sections of the route. On Oct. 18, 2024 Bamfiled residents Bob Baden and Ken Duncan lost their lives when water swept their vehicles into a swelling Sarita River during high tide.
Following these incidents Chief Councillor Jack brought up the need to better inform drivers of road conditions.
“Would those individuals have made different decisions if the risks were understood and communicated more clearly and more promptly?” asked Jack in an interview with Ha-Shilth-Sa. “The most impactful thing we can change, I think, is monitoring, communication and who makes the call if closing the road or a section of the road is needed.”
The recent work on the damaged section of Bamfield Main includes a weather station to better monitor conditions during severe weather.
“Additionally, an operating protocol has been developed to guide closures during high wind or heavy rainfall,” stated the Ministry of Transportation. “These closures will be communicated in advance whenever possible to minimize disruption.”
