Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Interface construction shut down for afternoons

Fire hazard remains at extreme over a period of days; construction industry worried about losing labour
nita_lake_crane
Raising the crane at the Nita Lake Lodge site.

Developers of the Nita Lake Lodge are no strangers to setbacks on their multi-million dollar Creekside project.

An expensive legal challenge cost developers $3 million and almost five months of lost time on the ground.

Now an extreme fire hazard rating looks like it could shut down one of the two development sites indefinitely.

On Wednesday the fire department issued a 1 p.m. shut down to contractors, advising them that they could not work throughout the afternoons during the current dry conditions.

The closures only apply to those construction sites where builders are in "interface" areas, or those areas which are close to the forest, like Kadenwood and Stonebridge.

For the developers of the Nita Lake Lodge that means the site of the 14-single family lots on the forested area west of Nita Lake will be affected by the closures. The site of the lodge itself is not affected.

"It usually gets drier and hotter in July and August as you can imagine," said David Ehrhardt, principal with the Nita Lake Lodge Corporation.

"From a work point of view that’s a real crisis."

Fire Chief Bruce Hall explained that full construction closures come when the fire hazard rating stays at extreme. That could be a possibility in the coming days depending on the first hazard.

"If we stay in extreme for a continued period of time and it looks like (the province) could be shutting the backwoods down, then we shut construction down," said Hall.

"I appreciate Nita Lake’s concern and all the contractors’ concerns about their projects but I would rather be safe and prevent any type of ignition sources that could be in the interface area."

Hall’s concern revolves around machines working next to the forest.

"It could be a spark from a machine or a spark from blasting, a couple of rocks even coming together that’s how dry it is," he said.

"We want to make sure that we have the opportunity to eliminate as many ignition factors as we possibly can. Unfortunately construction falls under that."

Whistler-Blackcomb has also shut down some work sites on the mountain for its summer ski run grooming and trail building for the mountain bike park. Some sites were closed even before the construction ban.

"There are some site specific indicators for us," said Arthur DeJong, the mountain planning and environmental resource manager for Whistler-Blackcomb.

"There are certain areas where the fuel loading is quite significant and we make that assessment on the site. We are, in some cases, more cautious than the regulations."

DeJong said that Whistler-Blackcomb is very concerned about the fire hazard rating as the summer progresses.

But they have more safety measures in place this year, including more pumps and more trucks that can carry water to the sites and more than 200 staff members have been trained in basic fire suppression.

"All of our snowmaking lines are charged, ready to provide water along any of our snowmaking lines, and we have fire watch staff out every evening (after the mountains close,)" he said.

There is also a smoking ban in effect, which Whistler-Blackcomb is taking very seriously.

Last summer Hall shut down construction over a period of weeks throughout August and September as the fire hazard rating lingered at extreme for six weeks.

"This hit us last year (and) it was a big, big issue," recalled Tim Regan, president of the Whistler chapter of the Canadian Home Builders Association.

"It was tough last summer because we were all set to go and we got a six week late start because of it.

"I think the market is more sensitive to it this year because there’s fewer projects, so I’m very concerned about keeping the work we’ve got going."

But concern about work also has to be tempered with the very real dangers of a forest fire he added.

"We don’t want to be another Yellowstone Park with a big swath of burnt out forest," said Regan.

At the same time, if there is an extended construction ban, the construction industry could face another problem as workers head elsewhere in search of a pay cheque.

The industry in other parts of the province, such as Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Squamish and the Interior, is booming.

Regan said there is such a trade shortage in the Interior that owners are going to work sites and enticing workers elsewhere by offering more money.

"This is really the first time in history over the last say 20 years that every single other region is competing with us for it," said Regan.

He estimates that there is about $1 billion worth of work, not including renovation work, currently underway in Whistler.

"You don’t want to lose your talent pool just as you need them to do that work," he said.

Ehrhardt echoed his concerns.

The workers have to put food on the table he said and if they can’t work in Whistler they’ll find that work elsewhere.

"We’ve got this talent pool that is so good, it’s so capable but if they can’t work… they’ve got to feed their family," said Ehrhardt.

Hall said the extreme hazard and the ban come surprisingly early this year.

"Here we are, it’s June 30 and we’ve been in extreme for a couple of days now," said Hall.

And the long range forecast doesn’t look great.

"B.C. Forest Service are predicting a really dry hot summer," he said.

In the meantime the extreme rating looks to remain at high throughout the weekend.

"It’s very concerning heading into a long weekend, all the recreation activity throughout the valley," said DeJong.

"It’s everyone’s concern here. If a fire starts in the valley or on the mountain it can affect all of us."

Signs alerting people to the fire hazard will be posted in the valley and at key Whistler-Blackcomb locations like the gondola to heighten awareness.

— With files from Andrew Mitchell