Officials in Ladysmith sent a letter to the province urging it to take immediate action on the ongoing illegal encampments, voicing concerns about wildfire safety and the town’s water supply. “The biggest risk and the biggest concern right now is fire,” said Mayor Deena Beeston. “If we lose our watershed, that’s catastrophic.” The letter comes after two recently human-caused wildfires ignited near the encampments, which are in and around the Banon Creek Forest Service Road just outside Ladysmith. “This is not actual municipal lands we are working with,” Beeston added. “The ministries in Victoria are the ones that have to actually do those kinds of things.” The province told CTV News it is aware of the ongoing situation and is collaborating with multiple agencies, First Nations and ministries to find the best possible outcome. An access gate to the Banon Forest Service Road was closed to the public on May 19 to mitigate the safety risk. However, the lock and gate have been vandalized multiple times. The province said this has resulted in a difficult and costly effort to secure the gate, as a first step toward safety in the area. The gate is currently open. A man named Caz has lived in an unauthorized camp in the area for more than a year and said he has nowhere else to go. As he explained, he was approached by government officials and the RCMP a few months ago. “They said we had to leave. I don’t mind leaving. I just have to get my shit together,” said Caz. The Ladysmith Sportsmen’s Club has been cleaning up illegal dumping in the area every Earth Day for more than a decade. The club estimated that roughly two dozen encampments were in the area during last Earth Day cleanup event in April. “There’s still about 15-plus sites and a lot of the people left but failed to clean up what they brought in, so they just left quite a mess,” club member Dave Judson said.
