Founder of northern B.C. music festival relocates event over wildfire concerns

A music festival held annually at a ski resort innorthern B.C. is being relocated to a nearby city due to concerns around potential wildfire risks.

Lionel Conant, founder of the Music On The Mountain (MOM) Festival, says he decidedto hold the Aug. 18-20 event at Cottonwood Park in Fort St. James, about nine kilometres south of the original venue, the Murray Ridge Ski Area.

The ski area is roughly 27 kilometres west of the Great Beaver Lake wildfire, classified by the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) as a "wildfire of note," meaning it is highly visible or poses a potential threat to public safety.

Conant says his event faced wildfire risks back in 2018, prompting local authorities to alert organizers and attendees about a potential evacuation.

He says he has considered the possible added strain on emergency services if the event were to be held in the ski area.

"It's on a dirt road with only one way in, one way out, and if we get hit by 500 to 1,000 people out there, it's a bit scary there isn't a great water supply to be had up there if something were to happen," he told host Sarah Penton on CBC's Radio West Wednesday.

Evacuation of Princeton, B.C., music festival

On Sunday evening, up to 1,000 people were evacuated from the Under The Stars Music Festival near Rice Road, approximately 11 kilometres northwest of Princeton, B.C., where a 0.2 -square-kilometre wildfire broke out, according to Princeton RCMP. The southern B.C. town is about 162 kilometres southwest of Kelowna.

In a statement releasedMonday afternoon, the Mounties saidthe fire had been caused by a group of four people riding all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) near the village of Coalmont, about 20 kilometres northwest of Princeton.

One of the ATVs caught fire, sparking a wildfire that quickly spread, according to the statement.

BCWS announced Wednesday that the fire is now "being held," meaning it's unlikely to expand beyond predetermined boundaries given the current conditions.

WATCH | Wildfire in southern Interior leads to festival evacuation:

Wildfire forces evacuation of music festival near Princeton, B.C.

1 year ago

Duration 2:35

A wildfire has forced hundreds of people to evacuate the Under the Stars Music Festival near Princeton, B.C. The fire sparked late Sunday night and is suspected to be human-caused.

Chris Carew, who worked as a DJ at the Under The Stars event, says festival attendees, whomhe said were primarily camping around the event site, were socializing by the river and cooling off when a nearby farmer hurried in to warn them about a rapidly approaching fire around 8 p.m. PT on Sunday.

Carew says he was surprised to see 1,000 people leavein an orderly manner, with many moving to and staying in Princeton afterwards.

"Neighbours [were] helping neighbours pack up stuff. When it was time to come out, it wasn't like people were driving all crazy all over the place we all drove out in a nice orderly fashion.

"That was actually quite an amazing sight to see," Carewsaid onRadio West Tuesday.

Princeton Mayor Spencer Coyne described theevacuees as "extremely lucky" to have been able to exit the danger zone withoutinjuries.

He says he hopes event organizers could enhance their communication with local authorities to better prepare for potential wildfire evacuations.

"August is a hard time to have events I don't want to discourage that, but we should be looking at how we co-operate and collaborate better when it comes to these events with local emergency services," Coyne said onRadio WestTuesday.

"We had extra police in town, which was lucky, but if we didn't have that, would we have had enough resources in town to deal with this event as well?"