Roadside slash piles spark wildfire fears on Sunshine Coast

At a time when the entire province is on alert for another potentially challenging wildfire season, a group of residents on the Sunshine Coast is voicing concern about the fire risk posed by 200 slash piles that were supposed to be cleaned up by now.

The piles of wood debris were left by logging companies that clear cut blocks of forest around North and Klein lakes, near to the town of Egmont, B.C., about 80 kilometres northwest of Vancouver, in 2022 and 2023.

In a letter addressed to Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston, Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simmons and Premier David Eby, the residents say the slash piles — some three metres high — are in places where accidental ignition is a real fear, including along roadsides and near the popular Suncoaster hiking trail and Klein Lake campground.

"As you can imagine, residents and those who recreate in the area are very worried about forest fires this summer as temperatures start to rise," reads the letter.

"Two hundred burn piles and a landscape covered with dry wood debris would go up in flames with a tossed cigarette, lightning, campfire [or] cook stove spark, or even arson."

North Lake resident Marcia Thomson helped write the letter. Thomson said in community consultations with B.C. Timber Sales and the shíshálh Nation, co-managers of the timber licences, residents were assured that fire mitigation would take place and the slash burned off during the rainy season. 

But that hasn't happened, and now Thomson's group has been informed by the shíshálh Nation that the piles will remain through a second summer because the window to burn has closed.

With forest fire season already underway in B.C., the news isn't sitting well.

"We see this hazard right on our doorstep and we don't know who's responsible for it and ... how the fuel on the ground will be dealt with," she said.

A request for an interview with a B.C. Timber Sales representative was relayed to the Ministry of Forests, Land and Natural Resources (MFLNR), however no one was available to speak to the residents' concerns.

In emails sent to CBC News, MFLNR said its compliance and enforcement branch had received a report of "potential non-compliance," in the area and had conducted a site inspection on May 1.

"Until this incident can be assessed further it is considered under investigation and we are not able to release further information at this time," said the ministry.

Prime Length Timber Limited logged seven of the estimated 21 cutblocks residents have raised as problematic.

According to president Ben Drosdovech, last year's fire season extended later into the year than usual, squeezing the amount of time available to burn the piles in a way that would meet regulations.

Drosdovech said one measure currently underway to mitigate the fire risk in the area is deactivating logging roads to reduce public access.

"I understand the concerns that the residents have," he said.

"It's really important for everyone to know that the risk of human-caused wildfire ignition is something that was there long before the logging took place and it's something that's going to be there after the piles are gone and it's all grown back."

According to B.C.'s Wildfire Act, timber licensees are responsible for fire hazard abatement on the land they log.

Thomson said any wildfire would be potentially devastating to the entire region.

"We're just worried. We see it as an accident waiting to happen," she said. "We're at the tip of the Sechelt Peninsula and there's not a lot of ways out for people who live there."