Wildfires shouldn’t be thought of first and foremost as an inconvenience to the public.
But that’s what seems to be happening with the Cameron Bluffs wildfire that has resulted in the closure of Highway 4 between Parksville and Port Alberni for a substantial period of time.
The main concern should be preventing this dangerous wildfire from spreading as much as possible and ultimately putting it out for the protection of the public from potentially tragic circumstances. It should not be about how people are being blocked from getting to their far overpriced luxury accommodations in Tofino and how that’s affecting tourism in the community.
It was outrageous seeing the rush of traffic jamming onto the alternate route from Youbou while it was open and expecting an easy passage to their destination. This is a narrow gravel road not meant to accommodate a large volume of vehicles.
And then to see people acting like something should be done immediately to improve this road because it was taking them far too long to bypass the wildfire route is just inexcusable.
This is going to be the worst wildfire season in B.C. history and so many are still whining about material things.
Travelling around the province is not what it used to be. Wildfires are levelling communities like Lytton two years ago and affecting populated areas like never before.
If some travellers expect their vacations to be the priority over fighting fires, they’ve got another thing coming.
There is also no need to start building bypass routes all over the place. These are unusual circumstances and if there’s no other passage for a while, so be it. More destruction of the environment to build new roads is also something we don’t need.
We haven’t been able to get a Malahat bypass built despite constant conversation about it during the past three decades so why would we start contemplating a bunch of other alternate routes at different locations now?
It’s time to take the high road and if it involves some vacation cancellations due to a wildfire, that’s the price some of us have to pay.
@chemainusnews
don.bodger@chemainusvalleycourier.ca
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