Residents fear losing historic Barkerville to wildfire
The B.C. Wildfire Service has been setting up systems to protect the national historic site
In September 1868, a saloon fire burned the town of Barkerville to the ground. More than 150 years later, another blaze is threatening the place its website describes as the "largest living history museum in western North America."
First discovered on July 20, the Antler Creek wildfire rapidly grew in B.C.'s central Interior — to the point that two days later, authorities issued evacuation orders for several communities, including Barkerville and the nearby community of Wells, approximately 120 kilometres southeast of Prince George.
Now, the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) is working to protect the national historic site.
Richard Wright, the founding president of Friends of Barkerville, said he worries about the potential loss to B.C. of such an important heritage resource.
Wright first came to Barkerville in 1983 to write a book about it. He then stayed and worked there for almost four decades, including as one of the interpreters dressed in historically accurate costumes to educate and entertain tourists about the Cariboo Gold Rush that helped shape B.C.'s development.
"It would be more than tragic to lose it," he said.
"You could reconstruct what looks like Barkerville, but you can't reconstruct the theatre, which dates to the 1930s, and many other buildings that go back to the 1860s, 1870s. They're irreplaceable."
Barkerville was established in 1862 after miner Billy Barker found gold in the nearby Williams Creek. News of his find helped kick off the Cariboo Gold Rush which was pivotal in helping form the province of B.C., attracting hundreds of people from around the world.
By 1870, Barkerville was home to more than 10,000 people, making it one of the largest cities in North America at the time.
Since 1958, it has stood as a historic site which welcomes hundreds of visitors each year to explore its streets and see actors, dressed in period clothing, play out what life was like in the region more than a century ago.
Sidewalks made from wood
But just as it was in 1868, Barkerville is still largely constructed of wooden buildings, connected by wooden walkways, making it susceptible to fire — though much work has been put into preventing flames from overtaking its historic buildings, approximately 107 of which are part of the original town.
There's also an emotional connection for Wright.
He and his partner, Amy Newman, took over Barkerville's Theatre Royal in 2004 and ran it for 16 years. He said he can still remember the "wonderful sounds" of the building — all wood, featuring a tall ceiling and arched roof — and a bell that would ring before every show. Many actors across Canada also got their start there, he said.
"When we were running the theatre … that was our identity," he said.
Monitoring the wildfire from his current home in Kamloops, Wright said he "fervently" hopes that everything will turn out OK. But he said it can be discouraging when there's a fire raging near a town full of wooden structures.
Mike Retasket, an Indigenous interpreter for Barkerville, is more optimistic.
Retasket told CBC News that he was able to watch the co-ordination between the wildfire service and the town's staff to put sprinkles on top of buildings. This would create "a humidity dome" over the top of houses to help protect them, according to a BCWS video.
The BCWS has also been thinning out the forest near Barkerville and building fire breaks for several years, said Stewart Cawood, the town's manager of public programming and media, in an interview with CBC's Radio West. He added that the more recent preparation, which focuses on installing sprinklers and laying hoses to dampen the town, began following an earlier alert about another wildfire.
Still, residents and "a few dozen" visitors had to evacuate Barkerville Sunday afternoon.
"We have ancient artifacts. We have eagle feathers. We even took down two teepees," Retasket told CBC News Monday from an evacuation centre in Quesnel, about 85 kilometres west of Barkerville.
"We just prepared for everything ... We're getting good at this. Maybe we're getting too good."
Retasket said he hopes that he can return to Barkerville soon to continue educating visitors about "a very sad history" of the gold-mining town and its dispossession of Indigenous communities. He is also its first Indigenous interpreter, having been hired in 2019.
"I love so much to share the history with every guest, and I don't want that momentum that we've created in Barkerville to slow down," said Retasket, a former chief of the Bonaparte Indian Band.
"I am manifesting that they're going to save the place, and I really believe that."
At the same time, Wright noted the Antler Creek wildfire is also threatening other historic mining towns. One is Wells, which is closely connected to Barkerville and has already been placed under evacuation.
Julia Mackey, a Wells resident, said it has been an emotional time as the smoke made things go dark and hazy.
"The cloud of smoke was massive and, and it was very scary," she said. "My brain just stopped. I just didn't know what to do. I was running around in circles a little bit."
Having since fled to Quesnel, she described her community to CBC News as tight-knit and full of art and culture. Mackey is a director of the local Sunset Theatre, which has had to cancel several shows.
She hopes the region will weather the fire and remain intact, with more people learning about Wells and Barkerville.
"We're just sending [firefighters] all our love and thanks for trying to save our town," she said. "It's a very special place, and the area itself is beautiful."
Corby Lee, a Vancouver resident, is also crossing his fingers for the well-being of the town and the region.
He said his grandparents, Lee Chong and Kim Wong, opened and operated the Lee Chong general store in Barkerville's Chinatown in the 1930s. It has since been turned into a museum, according to the town's website.
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With files from Radio West and Wildinette Paul