McKenzie Lake Community Fire Safety Submission

Your Worship Mayor Sid Tobias, Mayor of View Royal, and members of the council,

My name is Damon Langlois, and I am here tonight as the representative of the thirty-eight homeowners and residents of the eastern Thetis Lake area of View Royal – a group that we have informally named the Mackenzie Lake Group.

Were greatly alarmed by the outbreak of a fire in the park on August 21, 2023. Although this fire was handled in a timely manner and with a high level of efficiency by both the View Royal Fire Department and other support services, it gave those of us who comprise The Mackenzie Lake Group reasons to be concerned about the safety of those of us who use, or live in, this area.

Subsequently, we assembled a meeting of these residents on September 16 of last year to discuss these concerns and to enumerate the several safety issues we see as being specific to this region of our shared township.

First off, this region is surrounded by primarily forested land with Thetis Lake Park on the south, Mount Scafe Hill on the north, and large acreages of privately held land. The single, one-way, public road access to the region is first by Highland Rd. and then Barker Rd. Although generally well maintained by various government bodies, we believe that this single roadway access (which, to be clear, has no publicly accessible exit point) presents several problems should a large-scale fire break out.

Our first concern surrounded the potential for secondary egress or escape routes from the region in the event of a forest fire. We approached Mark Plasterer, the owner of Goodwin Farm, 3501 Thanet Road, to see if he would be willing to allow the Mackenzie Lake residents access to his private road as an escape route to Munn Road should the need arise. He agreed to do so and we now have access to this road, although it is rough and wild. Although there is no direct vision, we would like to have a more permanent escape route access. Perhaps through Scafe Hill Trail.

We also pinpointed that certain sections of the roads through the park are very narrow and could create issues with both Access and Egress. Widening key sections and completing the end turnaround of the existing road would improve emergency entry and exit access to this region.

Our second concern was to get a complete picture of what plans and procedures View Royal has in place in the event of a large-scale fire. Given that our region does not have fire hydrants nor any system of water supply that could address such a situation, we elected a delegation to meet with View Royal Fire Chief Paul Hurst, on Sept 27. Amiable in nature, he appeared very engaged and in support of the issues we raised in this meeting. After providing us with a very informative history of the area, he offered his views on how the safety of this region could be improved. The following is a list of some of these ideas.

1. Fire Chief Hurst stated that, in his opinion, the areas surrounding the forest's topography and flora, moisture levels, etc., are low risk for fire (as compared to, for example, the interior of BC) that fires will not move as fast or start as easily in other, highly publicized regions of the province.
2. He outlined his and his department’s ideas around the ‘Fire Smart” program and that his department is already planning to look at our neighborhood and would be willing to offer advice to residents on implementing suggestions arising from this program.
3. He stated that if there was a need for emergency evacuation, he or a member of the View Royal Fire Department would open up the Scafe Hill Trail (as the department has a key).
4. He suggested that the installation of a dry hydrant that would connect to one of the lakes was problematic due to the expense and the requirement to go through private property. He suggested that it could cost upwards of $100,000 to put in such a system.
5. He offered the opinion that static water storage was more feasible and that he would be prepared to recommend this to the Town Council. A raised water tank system could be located near the four corners of Mark Plasterer's property (close to where the gate that allows access to the emergency exit roadway is). Fire Chief Hurst believes this could service all the houses in the region and is similar in effectiveness to having a fire hydrant close by.
6. He also raised the benefits of having a storage container for fire fighting equipment on sight (possibly in the parking area close to Prior Lake).
7. He suggested that View Royal budget dollars are available for such initiatives and will be decided on in the new year and that he would be in full support of such a static water supply system being installed and suggested we could help by filing a petition and sending a delegation in support of such a system, which we are doing tonight.
8. He suggested that this petition to the View Royal Council seek improvements to safety on the rationale that these safety measures will not only provide greater safety for those of us who live here but would serve the entire region as Thetis Lake Park is used by all.

The Mackenzie Lake Group has other concerns: notably around the increased use of this area of Thetis Lake Park (and the apparent lack of by-law enforcement, signage, road maintenance, garbage and re-cycling, wildlife management, etc.) but for the purpose of tonight’s meeting we are here to urge you to support Fire Chief Hurst’s recommendations to the fullest. The safety of our region’s residents and the stewardship of this section of the Thetis Lake Park region depends on it.

Attached is a map highlighting details from this petition. Thank you for your time and consideration.

The Mackenzie Lake Group