A group of students in Nanaimo has quite a story to share after being stranded briefly while on a school trip to Tofino.
About 50 students and international students, along with their chaperones, were forced to spend Tuesday night at a secondary school in Port Alberni when they couldn’t return because of the closure of Highway-4 beneath the Cameron Bluffs wildfire.
Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District Communications Director Dale Burgos says they are grateful to Pacific Rim School District superintendent Tim Davie, as well as businesses in Port Alberni.
“The bus driver,” according to Burgos, “said that Walmart had been really great, the coop gas station was really supportive, and so people stepped up and provided blankets and pillows for students that were in need.”
Burgos says the students made it home on Wednesday on the emergency detour route through Bamfield and Lake Cowichan.
He says the route was precarious at times and praises the bus driver for bringing everyone home safely.
The Cameron Bluffs wildfire is currently 140-hectares, and the BC Wildfire Service says crews are making progress as they try to bring it under control, “leaning substantially on aviation resources.”
Highway-4 remains closed, but there are no evacuation alerts in the area at this time.
