Stephanie Goertz and her family were visiting the picturesque mountain town of Jasper, Alta., when a public alert notified them they would have to evacuate because a wildfire was approaching the community.
“We’re from Ontario so, forest fires, we didn’t really know how fast they can move, we didn’t really understand how bad the smoke can be,” she told CBC’s BC Today host Michelle Eliot.
“There was actually ash falling from the sky.”
Goertz said she and her husband are planners and are usually prepared for everything — but they weren’t prepared for this.
“I did not consider forest fires. It wasn’t on our radar,” she said.
Tourism agencies are urging people to check survival information about their destinations before and during their stay, as wildfires have threatened or struck destinations like Jasper in Alberta and Barkerville, Bowron Lakes and the Sooke potholes in B.C. this year alone, forcing tourists as well as residents into evacuation centres in other communities.
In recent years many other popular vacation spots in Western Canada have experienced evacuations and heavy smoke, as wildfires have become the norm in drier, hotter regions and provincial agencies spend all year preparing for the possibility of dangerous fire activity.
Goertz said that wasn’t clear when researching her Western Canada trip.
“It was actually pretty shocking that it’s not more prevalent in advertising … Emergency preparedness and fire evacuation is going to be on our radar for planning for our next trips,” said Goertz, who added that her family is safe and has now made other travel arrangements.
As Yellowknife residents resettle into their homes after wildfire evacuations, tourism-focused businesses say they’re hurting. They had to shut down for three weeks during peak travel season — a big blow shortly after pandemic hardships.
Destination B.C.’s website does have a section that includes a brief overview of the wildfire situation in the province, and Travel Alberta has a bulletin at the top of its main page sharing wildfire information for Jasper.
B.C.’s tourism ministry said visitors tourists are encouraged to check on the situation in the community they are headed to before they leave.
It did not answer CBC’s questions about what kind of responsibility the province has to inform prospective tourists about the chance of wildfires and smoke when they’re planning a trip.
On Monday, the province issued a news release asking travellers to avoid non-essential travel to and within fire-affected areas.
“When you’re travelling in British Columbia, we ask you to be safe and to be aware of the impacted communities,” Emergency Management and Climate Readiness minister Bowinn Ma said during a news conference on Wednesday.
Destination B.C. said in an email that it can’t predict what will happen with wildfires in any given community.
However, climate change has increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather, including heat and drought which both contribute to wildfire conditions in this province.
In recent years, wildfire activity in the province has been increasing, aside from 2019 and 2020. In 2021, the village of Lytton was all but destroyed by a wildfire, and last summer was the most destructive season on record in B.C.
Destination B.C. says the Tourism Emergency Management Committee has been established to ensure the safety of visitors to the province through sharing survival information.
“A large part of our work involves context setting and providing information to help travellers understand how large the province is, where an incident is occurring, correcting misinformation, and ensuring everyone knows where to find the latest, official information,” it said.