Travellers to and from Bamfield who are using the Youbou Road should prepare for flat tires following 17 reports of people having to call for help in a 24-hour period.
The Youbou Road between Bamfield and Lake Cowichan is considered the alternate route while Bamfield Road is closed due to the Mount Underwood wildfire still burning out of control southwest of Port Alberni. It is also the main route into and out of Ditidaht First Nation.
"There have been a lot of call-ins with regards to flat tires and some challenges getting through," said the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District's chief administrative officer Daniel Sailland. "We do ask people that are choosing to visit or to leave that they drive slower than usual, that they take precautions and that they plan for a much longer journey."
Sailland said the province did 12 hours of road grading recently in an effort to improve conditions. But he said people should still prepare for something to go wrong.
"Given the volume of calls around flat tires, make sure you do have a spare. Make sure that you do have communications and that you've packed so that if you are stranded for awhile you're not left thirsty or hungry or too cold."
Bamfield Main Road has been closed since Aug. 11, when the Mount Underwood wildfire broke out and immediately turned into a Rank 4 or Rank 5 wildfire, tripling in size within two days. During that time Bamfield and the surrounding communities have been without power.
A spokesperson from BC Hydro estimates it will take two weeks to restore power.
