Vancouver Island food banks run short as only highway could be shut for weeks due to wildfire

Food banks and soup kitchens are starting to see the impacts of a wildfire that has closed the only highway into Port Alberni, B.C., and other towns on the west side of Vancouver Island.

Highway 4 has been closed because of the Lake Cameron wildfire east of Port Alberni for a week already — and on Tuesday, the province's transportation ministry warned the "vital" route may not open again until June 24, in 11 days.

"It's sad to see because people come in and they definitely are noticing the drop-off in food," Delano Lake, an employee at Port Alberni's Bread of Life Centre soup kitchen, told CBC News on Tuesday.

"Some people tell me they haven't eaten for two days. 

"Sadly because of the traffic, we just don't have as much fresh produce ... you definitely can see the lack of things, and what this fire has done."

He said while they still have enough food to serve three meals a day to people in need, they're relying more on less perishable staples like potatoes.

But he said despite some Port Alberni grocery stores needing to implement restrictions on how much of some items shoppers can buy, he's also inspired by how locals are helping out in a time of crisis.

"I'm just proud of everyone that works here, we've done our best," Lake said. "There's nothing really we can do ... at the end of the day, we'll make it work and I'll just be happy when the highway opens up.

"They say it may be 10 days before the highway re-opens, but anything can happen in that 10 days."

The Alberni Valley Salvation Army Community Food Bank told CBC its donations from local stores have fallen about 25 per cent — and higher for donations to its milk program.

Michael Ramsay, captain with the charity, said an average morning commercial donations pick-up would yield a truckful of food.

"We were only able to pick up two boxes of produce and one box of bread," he said of one pick-up this week. "The need is quite significant.

"People in the community have of course been stocking up and leaving the shelves emptier than usual … Stores are providing as much support for the community as they possibly can."

'A vital connection'

The Cameron Bluffs wildfire, located just east of the popular Cathedral Grove park, remains smaller than others in the province at just over 2.5 square kilometres, the wildfire service estimates. 

B.C.'s Transportation Minister Rob Fleming acknowledged Tuesday afternoon that impacts on residents of western Vancouver Island are real.

But he said the highway cannot be safety reopened for at minimum a week — even if firefighters manage to douse the blaze — due to the risk of falling debris.

"We know that Highway 4 is a vital connection to Port Alberni, Tofino, Ucluelet, Bamfield and other island communities," he said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

The logging road being offered as a detour is being prioritized for escorted convoys of vehicles carrying essential supplies such as food and fuel.

On the other side of the wildfire, in Nanaimo, charities like Loaves and Fishes food bank are trying to get regular deliveries to counterparts to the west.

One employee told CBC News they couldn't make their usual Monday run with donations this week, but are considering joining one of the escorted convoys on the bumpy gravel detour route, despite poor road conditions.

An Esso convenience store manager in Port Alberni said he's running out of food supplies without a new shipment expected until Thursday.

"We might be delayed in our deliveries," Tofino Co-op grocery store manager Brad Linterman said, "but we're still gonna have our trucks coming in on a regular basis."

The crunch in the supply chain is causing charities to call for more individual help to replace what stores cannot.

"Whatever people have got that they're able to donate," the Salvation Army's Ramsay said. "We'll put it to use feeding people in real need right now."