The Mount Underwood wildfire on Vancouver Island is no longer burning out of control, but the power outages and road closures that it triggered are dragging on.
John Jack, chairman of the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, said there was a tough lesson in that for anywhere facing wildfire risks.
"I think it's important for every community to understand that this can happen anywhere, that emergency situations can cut off access or power for extended periods of time," said Jack, who is also Chief Councillor for the Huu-ay-aht First Nation.
He said every municipal government and community, "every neighborhood and even every household" should have a plan to make it through at least 72 hours without power."
The BC Wildfire Service reclassified the fire near Port Alberni as being held late Wednesday at about 35 square kilometres, saying it was projected to remain within its current perimeter.
The fire, which retained its classification as B.C.'s only wildfire of note, showed aggressive, intense behaviour after being discovered early last week before being tempered by significant rainfall over the weekend.
Some evacuation orders and alerts were downgraded Wednesday by the regional district, the City of Port Alberni and the Tseshaht First Nation.
But the fire also destroyed about six kilometres of BC Hydro lines, and the utility said Thursday that more than 500 customers remained without power.
It said the rebuild involved "two kilometres of steep forested cliffs and unstable rock."
However, despite "significant challenges" for crews, BC Hydro said it expected power to be restored a few days ahead of an Aug. 30 estimate.
The blaze also triggered the closure of the road connecting Port Alberni to Bamfield and the Huu-ay-aht and Ditidaht First Nations.
The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council said on Wednesday that the closure put at risk the water system for the Ditidaht community, since it is powered by propane and gas deliveries along an alternative logging road had been refused.
Jack said work was being done on the alternate route to make it safer for larger vehicles.
"That is something where that is probably more of a question for the willingness of the propane trucks to actually traverse that route," Jack said. "I know that some drivers are not comfortable with that. And I think it just comes down to, what are the things we can do to ensure that happens regularly."
Jack said residents near the fire are relieved there's "light at the end of the tunnel," but remain frustrated by the road closure.
He said regional district is considering asking the province for relief for income lost by businesses forced to close during the fire.
"That's a long shot, but it's worth advocating for at the very least, especially if this is going to become more frequent and potentially more acute as time goes by, weather-related events like slides or fires," Jack said.
Fire Information Officer Julia Caranci said Thursday that about 40 millimetres of rain had fallen on the Mount Underwood fire in the last five days, compared with only seven millimetres in the two months before the fire ignited.
"There were several conditions that happened at the start of this fire that caused that explosive growth that we saw in those first 48 hours," Caranci said.
"Number 1 was a drought and extremely dry conditions with almost no rain over that previous two months compared with the normal average for that time of year.
"Secondly, it was that the fire started at the bottom of a slope, and then winds aligned as well. So we had those three conditions that aligned that pushed that fire very aggressively upslope."
In a post on social media, Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said he was grateful to fire and emergency crews who worked to protect communities close to the fire.
There are about 60 active wildfires burning across B.C., including two burning out of control. Those are both in remote parts of northeastern B.C. and no evacuation orders or alerts are associated with them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2025.
Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press
