B.C. mining town transformed into an outdoor paradise hopes to survive another wildfire season
Dr. Charles Helm is safely home this week in Tumbler Ridge, BC, after a wildfire forced him and his wife to flee.
“Any community that’s threatened by wildfires, it’s a tragedy, and everyone’s very stressed, and it’s terrible,” said Helm, a semi-retired physician who has lived in the city for 28 years and has written a handful of books about his history.
“You can’t overstate how terrible it is.”
Evacuation orders for the Tumbler Ridge County, a town of about 2,500 in the foothills of the Rockies and about an hour’s drive south of Dawson Creek, were downgraded to evacuation warnings Thursday.
Residents like Helm must remain ready to leave once the wind shifts and the flames of the West Kiskatinaw River wildfire slam back into town. But with rain forecast for Sunday and Monday, hope is on the horizon.
Vigilance for wildfires that can destroy entire communities is the new seasonal norm for residents like Helm in Tumbler Ridge, as well as many other communities in BC
“Every year it’s like Russian roulette: that’s the city that will be hit hardest this year,” he said. “It’s very worrisome and seems to be getting worse.”
Like other Tumbler Ridge residents, Helm hopes wildfires will spare the picturesque community with a rich geological history that avoided becoming a ghost town and instead offers a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and amateur archaeologists.
From mining to Mecca in the hinterland
Tumbler Ridge is the site of one of Canada’s five Geoparks, a UNESCO designation for areas of internationally significant geology, geography or human history relating to the Earth.
The Geopark designation was awarded in 2015, 15 years after two boys discovered dinosaur tracks while out hiking. One of those boys was Helm’s son, who was eight at the time.
Manda Maggs, executive director of the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark, says the designation was a game-changer for the district, which was established in 1981 as a mining town for metallurgical coal to make steel.
The timing couldn’t be better. Like many mining towns, Tumbler Ridge suffered many a boom and bust cycle, and was in danger of becoming a ghost town.
Rather than die a quiet death, Tumbler Ridge quickly earned a reputation as a backcountry mecca with beautiful terrain that offers an abundance of opportunities for outdoor recreation.
“People don’t move there just because they got jobs in the mine,” Maggs said.
“They’re moving there because they can work remotely and they want access to all these backcountry trails.”
In fact, the area is so beautiful that in 2019 HBO used it as the backdrop for one of the six thrones it stowed away around the world to promote the final season of Games of Thrones.
The one in Tumbler Ridge was the only one in North America.
Dinosaurs coming
As a bonus, anyone exploring the nearby area has a pretty good chance of encountering an archaeological artifact.
“So little paleontological work has been done in the area,” she said. “We know the best fossils haven’t been found yet.”
Maggs says the area is home to more than half of the world’s tyrannosaur trackway — footprints left in the sand. There are also traces of crocodilians and parasaurs and real fossils.
The area’s geology is so rich in historical artifacts that Helm, the town’s physician, has shifted his career from medicine to paleontology.
He hopes to continue his work, but worries about the future, as every summer now seems to trigger some form of wildfires.
“I’m scared of summer these days. I don’t look forward to it like I used to,” he said. “It’s very worrisome and seems to be getting worse.”
