Flames again shut highway ahead of holiday weekend
Encroaching flames shut down Highway 93 to Radium on Friday, just as the August long weekend began, the second such closure this week as firefighters continue to grapple with the growing Verdant Creek blaze.
And there’s no end in sight to the wildfire shutdown of Sunshine Village’s summer operation, Parks Canada officials said Friday.
While the ski resort has been shut since Monday, parks official closed the vital 100-kilometre stretch of highway late Friday afternoon — bad news for vacationers and Radium merchants, said the manager of that town’s chamber of commerce, Kent Kebe.
“It brings back 2003 memories when fire closed the road for nearly a month. It caused a tremendous downturn in the economy,” he said, adding motorists have told him flames are only a few hundred metres from the highway.
Parks Canada officials, said Kebe, have scheduled a meeting with Radium leaders next week to discuss a strategy in the face of more highway closures this summer. “That’s not a good sign,” said Kebe.
Meanwhile, Sunshine Village’s operators say they’ve been told their resort’s closure will extend at least through the lucrative August long weekend as firefighters battle the stubborn blaze on the B.C. side of the Great Divide, said spokeswoman Kendra Scurfield.
“The uncertainty is tough for some of our staff ... it’s not great for our bottom line,” she said.
“It’s part of the risk you take when your business is located with a lot of variables, but it’s a challenge for the entire summer season in Banff.”
Sunshine Village’s guests and staff were evacuated Monday, the second time the action’s been taken since July 15.
The blaze remains about 2.5 kilometres from the resort but has grown substantially, to at least 11,000 hectares, and has often pumped considerable amounts of smoke to not only areas of Kootenay National Park but also Sunshine Village.
It’s a challenge that’s presented “higher-than-normal fire behaviour,” whose difficulty has been magnified by steep terrain, said Parks Canada incident commander Jane Park.
As for Sunshine Village’s reopening, she said it all depends on the fire’s often wind-driven behaviour and the amount of smoke it produces, she said.
“We need to make sure it’s the right thing to do for the operation and the safety of the public,” said Park, noting the resort is being used as a staging area for firefighting crews.
While Scurfield said most of the guests, who’ve been given lodging in the nearby town of Banff, have taken the change in stride, some have expressed disappointment.
“The experience isn’t quite as unique as what they’d have staying at our lodge,” she said.
The firefighting effort has expanded this week, from 60 personnel to 100, while employing 10 helicopters.
Earlier this week, dense smoke from the fire forced the closure of Highway 93 between Banff National Park and Radium Hot Springs.
Parks Canada is telling motorists the best time to travel is between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. when higher temperatures tend to keep the smoke aloft. Anyone planning to travel to the Radium-Invermere area can check highway status at driveBC.ca or Alberta511.ca