A wildfire closed down a Vancouver Island highway. Local businesses say the impact has been 'devastating'

More than a week after a wildfire on Vancouver Island shut down the only highway that connects the island's two coasts, several communities remain cut off with no end in sight.

Highway 4 closed on June 6 due to a wildfire near the popular Cathedral Grove park just east of Port Alberni, B.C.  

The highway will be closed at least until June 24, B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said Tuesday.

Food banks in Tofino and Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island are already feeling the squeeze, while some grocery stores have implemented purchase limits on certain essential items. Meanwhile, Good Samaritans are stepping up to offer shelter and help to those who are stranded.

The only way for food and supplies to reach affected communities by land is via an hours-long detour on a narrow logging road.

Lonny Jamieson is one of the pilot drivers guiding the province's scheduled convoys along the route since some smaller vehicles broke down on the tough terrain, causing the detour to close for several hours last Friday.

"It's bumpy…light vehicles like trucks and cars, it just bounces them right out and if you're going fast, you just go right off the road," said Jamieson. "And if you're not, if you don't know how to properly drive and correct, you're in the ditch."

As a driver for logistics company Comox Pacific Express, Gord Massick usually comes to Port Alberni from Nanaimo once or twice a day, but he is only able to make one trip a day on the detour.

"It's costing the company money… I used to be able to do five trips in on a tank of gas. I'm only doing one now," Massick told CBC, noting he feels much safer as part of the convoy.

While Massick, Jamieson and other drivers navigate a treacherous detour to bring essential supplies across the island, local residents and businesses are trying to weather an unexpectedly quiet week during peak travel season.

Krissy Montgomery, who owns Surf Sister surfing shop in Tofino, says she has had to temporarily lay off some of her 25 full-time staff because they only have about 10 per cent of their normal lesson and rental bookings.

"This week has been a real kick in the pants… it's been very difficult," said Montgomery. "Everyone's fully staffed and fully stocked, and to have to shut down overnight, it's been devastating."

Most businesses in the area are only a few months away from going out of business, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic slowed travel as well, said Montgomery.

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The sole highway connecting communities on the west coast of Vancouver Island has been closed for over a week and isn't expected to reopen for another week. It has cut tourist-dependent communities off from their main source of income just as high season gets going. The only way through is via dusty and dangerous hours-long detour.

The inaugural season for newly-opened Ahous Adventures in Tofino is off to an "interesting" start, said assistant manager Brent Baker.

"It's not the ideal scenario, that's for sure. But I think anytime you take on this new opportunity, you want to launch a new business, it's not going to be without challenges," said Baker of the venture owned by the Ahousaht First Nation.

Keenan Bush, a Tofino-based surf photographer, says it's been quieter on the beaches but he's still been getting plenty of calls from locals.

"I think they're kind of seizing the day," said Bush. "But at the same time… there's that sort of looming feeling that, you know, let's just hope the [logging] road stays open, let's hope the grocery store stays stocked."

Montgomery says governments need to support businesses and prepare the roads for worsening climate disasters.

"We've experienced shutoffs before with construction gone wrong or with fallen trees and storms, but nothing to this extent," said Montgomery. "It goes to show how fragile our supply line is and also how important the tourism economy is to this town and to the livelihood of the people living here."

'Counting down the minutes'

Some visitors, meanwhile, are savouring the absence of long lines.

Montrealers Luc Lafontaine and Natalie O'Leary drove their seven-metre camper van across Canada, but what was supposed to be a few days' visit to Vancouver Island has lasted more than a week.

"But it's not a bad place to be stuck in," said Lafontaine. "It's always sunny since we're here and everything's great. Beautiful place."

The couple is following advice to avoid the detour and had no problem extending their booking at a nearly empty campground.

"Unless you want your camper to be [broken in two], you better stick around and wait a couple of weeks," said Lafontaine.

"We're not really stuck with the dates and the deadlines, so we'll take it one day at a time," he said.

Back on the beach, Montgomery and other businesses aren't feeling so relaxed.

"We are just counting down the minutes until that road can open again," she said.