B.C. draining water off Old Fort landslide, no word when evacuation order may lift

A landslide on Old Fort Road, about five kilometres south of Fort St. John, B.C. is shown in this undated handout photo. (The Canadian Press/ Handout / B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Transit)

FORT ST. JOHN — British Columbia’s Ministry of Transportation says workers have started draining water from a landslide in the province’s northeast that has forced residents out of their homes for weeks.

An update on the slide blocking the road into Old Fort says the maintenance contractors began “dewatering” of the slide on Thursday.

It says movement of the mass is “minimal,” but there’s a risk of the slide being reactivated as water continues to enter from above the slope, saturating unstable material.

The ministry says it will establish a temporary access route when monitoring confirms the drainage measures are working, but there’s no timeline for when that could happen.

An evacuation order was issued on April 20 after Old Fort, which has about 150 residents, was hit by its third landslide since 2018,

The government estimates the overall slide area at about 400 metres wide and has previously said the only road in and out of the community was moved by more than 100 metres.

The ministry says it is securing equipment and materials so work can begin without delay when conditions allow.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2026