The Tsilhqot'in National Government (TNG) has activated its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Wednesday, July 31 after receiving reports of a landslide near Farwell Canyon west of Williams Lake.
The TNG is asking people to avoid the Chilcotin River area due to danger of unpredictable water flow.
The slide happened in the middle of the night between July 30-July 31.
DK Ilnicki noted on social media that the Chilcotin River is completely blocked and there was an injured camper needing assistance, who was successfully rescued and taken to hospital in Williams Lake.
Cariboo Regional District EOC information officer Gerald Pinchbeck confirmed they had received initial reports of the landslide and have activated an initial response and information gathering phase and are coordinating with First Nations and provincial agencies.
The CRD is asking people to stay off the Chilcotin River downstream of Alexis Creek at this time.
The landslide is blocking the river upstream of the Farwell Canyon bridge, and poses a risk to public safety.
The CRD's EOC public information line is open at 1-866-759-4977.
Alexis Creek RCMP confirmed the slide occurred at Riske Creek near the Ilnicki Ranch.
Central Cariboo Search and Rescue (CCSAR) sent the land search and rescue team to rescue the injured person.
An intense thunderstorm over Williams Lake Monday night brought with it 29.8mm of rain in a short period of time, however, Ilnicki Ranch farmhand Greg Fisher confirmed they had very little rain at the ranch Monday.
The Chilcotin River is a critical waterway for salmon, with Farwell Canyon being an important area for dipnetting.
TNG tribal chair Chief Joe Alphonse said the slide occurred in an area of Tsilhqot'in lands called Nagwentled that means slide area.
"It describes the area as a slide area and that's the way it has always been there," he said. "In my life it's the second time we've had a slide that has actually cut off the whole river."
He stressed it can be potentially dangerous for people wanting to venture out and see the slide for themselves.
"People should stay away," he said, noting the river will keep backing up and filling up with debris and putting pressure on all the soil. "When there is so much constant pressure it will eventually blow out again and open up. That's what happened the last time and that is what we are anticipating will happen again."
Alphonse said he hopes any nearby ranches will be OK and people living close to the Chilcotin River are not affected.
"It's difficult. Water can be a really strong element out there. Land upstream may become unstable because of the pressure and all that. Let's let the experts have access, let's stand afar and watch from afar."
Ken Ilnicki of Ilnicki Ranch said he had gone out to turn on the water at about 6:30 a.m. when he noticed he could not hear the river running.
"I came back to the house and could see the slide from a distance," he said.
He and his mechanic and farmhand went down to see it up closer and could hear what they thought was a cow calling.
Once they turned the truck off, they could hear someone yelling "help."
A man in the slide area told them he had been floating down the river on a boat with his dog and stopped to camp for the night.
"He told us the slide happened in the middle of the night," Ilinicki said. "He lost his dog too."
CCSAR information officer Debra Bortolussi said two of her members were dispatched at around 8 a.m. to the slide area.
"They flew in with Frontline Helicopters and landed on the top of the slide essentially," she said. "They walked down to the patient, assessed his injuries and packed him onto a stretcher and carried him up to the helicopter."
From there they flew to Williams Lake and handed the patient off to BC Emergency Health Services who transported him to Cariboo Memorial Hospital.
"The last I heard he was receiving treatment from the Cariboo Memorial Hospital. The story he stated was that he had set up camp for the night and around midnight or so he heard some rumbling so he got up and started running and told his dog to run too," Bortolussi said. "He sustained his injuries while running. We are hoping they find his dog."
TNG fisheries manager Randy Billyboy was pacing along the bench looking at the slide and taking photographs Wednesday afternoon.
He said there was a similar slide in 2009 along the Chilcotin River but in Farwell Canyon which is east from the Ilnicki Ranch.
"When it happened we actually saw sockeye on the other side of the bank."
The July 31 slide is much more intense, he said.
"The river is rising and is already much higher. We have the Taseko, the Chilko and the Chilcotin all coming down."
Billyboy said the majority of the water is coming from the Taseko River, which is glacier fed.
"We had another slide by Yunesit'in one year and it almost covered the river, but it was much smaller and there was an area left open that was about two or three feet wide."
Ilnicki said he thinks it will take at least two days for the river to rise naturally and make its way through again.
"It’s hard not to be emotional about the devastation," said Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars. "Now is the time to stand together, work together and do everything we can to keep people safe, protect the water and protect the fish.
Tsilhqot'in elder Joan Gentles, 77, said in her lifetime a slide has closed the river three times that she remembers. Her family lived at Riske Creek.
B.C. Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma posted a notice late Wednesday saying the slide is located 22 km upstream from the Farwell Canyon Bridge.
"It has resulted in a complete blockage of the river with material piling 30 metres high and 600 metres deep. Water has backed up roughly eight km behind the landslide material."
She noted the material blocking the river is composed of sands and clays and has the potential to erode and break.
More to come
