Closure of Hwy 4 on Vancouver Island extended again as it enters Day 6

Western communities on Vancouver Island cut off from the rest of the island for six days will see the closure extend to at least a week, the province said, as a wildfire continues to grow above the road.

Last week, a long, arduous detour was put in place due to the closure of Highway 4 on Tuesday afternoon because of the Cameron Bluffs wildfire. The blaze east of Port Alberni is now 2.5 square kilometres in size, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service, and is burning right above the two-lane highway — the main, paved route to communities such as Tofino, Ucluelet and Port Alberni.

"Assessments are underway to monitor the danger of falling trees and debris on the highway and to assess slope conditions," it said in a statement on Monday. "There is no estimate regarding timing for the reopening of Highway 4."

Tofino Mayor Dan Law said although it's notably quieter in his community, where tourism is an important economic driver, supplies are still arriving and businesses and residents are making the best of the situation.

"West Coasters, we certainly all learn to be resilient and to expect some hurdles and take it all in stride," he said. "We're happy we are getting supplies."

Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions said supplies were also reaching her community and surrounding area, which is home to almost 26,000 people.

"It's day by day for sure, I think the last few days have been a bit of a lift as we were able to address some of the supply issues we were having, but still a lot of uncertainty as we don't have a timeline yet on the road or the fire," she said.

Tofino and Ucluelet have around 4,500 residents combined — not counting the many visitors to the popular west coast destinations. 

The province said the next update on the condition of Highway 4 would be provided on Tuesday.

The increased timeline of the closure has some residents talking about the need for a second permanent route into the area.

Mayor hopeful situation will improve

Law, along with other local leaders such as Ucluelet Mayor Marilyn McEwen and Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions, met with their MLA Josie Oborne, who is also a cabinet minister in the David Eby government, for an update on the situation.

"I am quite hopeful that [the B.C. Wildfire Service] will be able to suppress that fire, and with the rain coming, the road will be open fairly quickly," said Law on Monday morning.

Environment Canada is forecasting rain for western parts of Vancouver Island starting on Thursday night.

In the meantime, leaders like Minions are asking tourists and travellers to stay away if they intend to drive.

"Any additional pressure on the detour road is just not ideal, so we are asking people at this point in time to not visit our community," said Minions.

In announcing the detour last Wednesday, the province cautioned it should only used for essential travel. The route extends travel time by hours and features rough roads and some single-lane bridges. There is no cellphone service along the way.

On Friday the detour was shut down at 1 p.m. for hours so that crews could remove a commercial vehicle that had rolled into Francis Lake.

Upon reopening the route Friday night, the province put in place piloted departures to and from Port Alberni for commercial vehicles, four times a day, to improve safety and efficiency along the detour.

Commercial vehicles are permitted to travel outside of the scheduled departures without pilot vehicles if they choose.

The province also said other drivers will be placed behind the convoys because the priority is the movement of essential supplies, such as fuel and food into cut-off communities.

Second route to east coast

The closure of Highway 4 has residents in the affected communities talking about moving forward with a second permanent route into the area.

A route called the Horne Lake connector has been studied over the past decade as another possible way to connect Port Alberni to Highway 19 on the Island's east coast.

"Every day that goes by, I think every person that has to drive a four-hour detour when we know that there is a potential alternative route that would be a half-hour to an hour, yeah, it's definitely a topic of conversation in our community," said Minions.

In 2016, the province published a study of the potential route, which showed it would cost $82 million to upgrade it and make it usable. The study also compared how $20 million in upgrades to Highway 4 would improve accessibility.

However, the report found that the costs of either option exceeded the benefits.

But Minions said she would like to revisit the idea of a second permanent route with the province following the resolution of the current closure of Highway 4.