It’s been a year since a devastating wildfire tore through a section of forest just outside Sechelt, burning more than 400 hectares and claiming the life of 60-year-old tree faller John Phare of Roberts Creek.
The fire was spotted late on the afternoon of July 2, 2015 and spread quickly. It would be more than two months before the last remnants of the blaze burned out.
Much of the area devastated by the fire was in the Sunshine Coast Community Forest Tenure. In a report presented at the Community Forest’s AGM in April, operations manager Dave Lasser said 115 hectares of their tenure suffered fire damage and the Community Forest was continuing efforts to salvage as much timber as possible in cooperation with shíshálh Nation.
Phare, and his company John Phare Contracting, had close ties to the Community Forest. The company was responsible for 90 per cent of the harvesting done for the Community Forest between 2011 and 2015. “John was a valued contractor of all the forest companies that do business on the Sunshine Coast and he is sorely missed by all of us. Our thoughts continue to be with him, his family and his crew,” Lasser’s report to the AGM said.
There are still two active investigations tied to the fire. WorkSafe BC has been probing the circumstances leading to the July 5, 2015 accident that claimed Phare’s life. The agency said the investigation is in its “final stages” and investigators could file their report by the end of the month.
Const. Harrison Mohr of Sunshine Coast RCMP said police have determined there was nothing criminal in the cause of the fire, and the investigation is now entirely in the hands of the Wildfire Service.
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations public affairs officer Greig Bethel said the Wildfire Service investigation is ongoing. The fire is listed as person-caused, but no specific cause has been pinpointed despite a persistent belief in the community that the blaze was sparked by people target shooting in the area.
Bethel also said the province is still awaiting an application from local governments to have Wormy Lake renamed Phare Lake (the District of Sechelt said in March it planned to request the name change this summer). Many locals have already adopted the new name, and someone has installed a sign on one of the access trails.
The District of Sechelt is planning a formal dedication ceremony for the sculpture Regeneration, created by local artist Gord Halloran using burned cedars salvaged from the fire zone. A cedar sapling will be planted in the burned-out trees, where it will be grow for around two years before being transplanted at Hidden Grove.
In a release announcing the dedication, Sechelt arts, culture and communications coordinator Siobhan Smith calls Regeneration “a sculpture in honour of the late John Phare and the staff and crew of BC Wildfire Service.” The ceremony will take place July 16 at 3:30 p.m. in Spirit Square (beside Seaside Centre).
Phare was also honoured last October when he was posthumously named the first recipient of the province’s Medal of Good Citizenship.
– Sean Eckford, with files from Christine Wood
