Busload of B.C. students stranded by wildfire spend the night inside Vancouver Island high school
A busload of high school students were finally heading home to Nanaimo on Wednesday after they were stranded by a raging wildfire that forced them to spend the night inside a Port Alberni high school.
The approximately 50 students and their chaperones were meant to return Tuesday from a field trip to Tofino, a roughly three-hour drive from Nanaimo.
However, an aggressive wildfire burning along the only highway linking Tofino with the rest of British Columbia prompted provincial officials to close the highway due to debris obstructing the roadway and ongoing concerns about potential landslides.
BUS EMBARKS ON DETOUR ROUTE
British Columbia's Transportation Ministry established an emergency detour route around the fire site at Cameron Lake on Wednesday using logging roads that connect Port Alberni to the tiny community of Youbou, approximately one hour southwest of Nanaimo.
The students were still on the bus Wednesday afternoon after packing up their sleeping mats and leaving first thing in the morning to avoid disrupting regular classes at the Port Alberni school.
"At this time, we have not yet received an update from the group," Dale Burgos, spokesperson for Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, told CTV News on Wednesday afternoon.
The school district spokesperson said Port Alberni community members donated blankets and pillows to the students, while their families back home were kept up to date on the situation via email.
WILDFIRE STILL GROWING
The Cameron Bluffs wildfire, located approximately 20 kilometres east of Port Alberni, grew to nearly one and a half square kilometres Wednesday afternoon.
With 26 firefighters, five helicopters and multiple air tankers attacking the blaze, the fire remains out of control, according to the latest update from the B.C. Wildfire Service.
The provincial agency says the fire is approximately four kilometres east of Cathedral Grove, a popular tourist attraction that is home to a collection of ancient Douglas fir trees.
The wildfire service and the B.C. Ministry of Transportation have not yet reached a determination on when Highway 4 may fully reopen, with officials saying they will rely on the recommendations of slope stability experts before reaching a decision.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Iran's judiciary confirms rapper Toomaj Salehi death sentence
Iran's judiciary confirmed the death sentence of well-known Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi but added that he is entitled to a sentence reduction, state media reported on Thursday.