The Great Fire, also known as “The Sayward Fire” or “The Bloedel Fire” of 1938 was the largest fire in recorded history on the coast of B.C. It burned for almost 30 days and torched approximately 31,000 hectares of forest from Gosling Lake to Brown’s River west of Courtenay. The cache is placed near the origin of the fire.
On July 5, 1938 sparks from a yarding engine (a machine used to bring logs from the woods to the roadside) started a fire in some felled logs. The loggers started fire fighting efforts immediately, however, the prolonged heat wave that summer combined with high winds proved too much for the initial attack crew. As the winds picked up burning embers and dropped them hundreds of metres from the main fire, small spot fires developed which soon spread quickly. Within a few days it was evident that the fire was out of control and beyond the fire fighting capability of the local loggers.
The fire was quickly threatening the village of Campbell River, just a few kilometers to the south, Within a week it was clear that outside resources were going to be needed to help fight the fire, that was now encompassing several hundred hectares of land. The Provincial Legislating assembly stepped in to assist and thousands of would be fire fighters were lining up in Victoria to help out at a rate of .25 cents an hour.
At the height of the fire, up to fifteen thousand firefighters worked to control the blaze yet it raged on for 30 days. In mid August it started to rain, and a few weeks of downpours saved not only the settlement at Campbell River, but Merville and Courtenay also. The only loss of structure was the Forbes Landing Hotel on the banks of McIvor Lake. The devastation had completely passed Campbell River although it burned a swath of timber some 64 km long destroying about 31,000 hectares of timber, enough to build 200,000 homes. The nature of a wildfire is unpredictable, and erratic and several old growth stands of timber were untouched by the flames, including a small stand of timber at the site of Elk Falls and another near present day Miracle Beach.
After the devastation caused by the fire, forest officials realized that natural regeneration would not be enough to ensure a sustainable supply of timber for future use. The Great Fire marked a turning point in the development of the reforestation program in British Columbia. Prior to 1938, only 1,300 hectares of forest had been replanted in British Columbia. Preliminary research into planting had begun, but at the time of the fire, natural regeneration was still relied on as the primary method of reforestation in the province.
The Great Fire was to benchmark the largest reforestation project in the world at the time. A massive replanting effort began during which almost 800,000 planted Douglas Fir trees helped to regenerate the forest. It took several more years to replant the entire burned area and the results of those efforts are evident today.
The Sayward Forest is one of British Columbia's best examples of a large, successful, second-growth forest. Continual management of the forest has helped to create a valuable, healthy forest that provides for a variety of forest uses. Substantial investments have and continue to be made to enhance the productivity and value of the second-growth forest and to create employment opportunities. Trees harvested from the second growth forest is an important source of timber for local mills.. In addition, trails, campsites, educational areas and other recreational features are continually being developed, and silviculture treatments are carried out on an ongoing basis. The forest also provides important habitat for fish and wildlife. Every year, campers, fishermen, hunters, and geocachers enjoy the area’s many resources.
Replanting the Great Fire caught the attention of Provincial Forestry officials & politicians who developed many BC wide policies related to forest regeneration including to restock not just burned, but logged areas also. Many of these programs are still in place today.
Now, 76 years later, many of those reforested areas have since been logged and planted again resulting in a third generation forest.