Insecure doorman’s building vacant for years: critical

One of the buildings cited as a reason to remove the lighthouses from two light stations on the west coast of Vancouver Island has not been occupied in several years, says a critic of the Canadian Coast Guard plan.

An engineer’s report noted that a duplex at Pachena Point Light Station had an unacceptable level of earthquake risk.

Long-term use of the residence without slope stabilization work is not recommended, he said.

However, the building was last occupied about five years ago, former lighthouse keeper Jim Abram said Friday. “Everybody has agreed for years … it probably wasn’t a good idea to live there. It’s a heritage building, so they just left it.”

The lighthouse keepers live in other residences in Pachena, Abram said.

BGC Engineering Inc., which submitted slope and ground stability reports in February for the Pachena and Carmanah Point light stations, raised similar concerns about the lighthouse’s permanent residence in Carmanah to the south.

The Carmanah report advised against using the main lighthouse residence for long-term accommodation without mitigation work.

BGC recommended that the existing light keeper’s residence in Carmanah become the main house of the light keeper until mitigation measures are completed.

Station accommodation for temporary lighthouse keepers and park rangers was considered to have “tolerable to broadly acceptable” levels of risk, according to the report.

Reports estimated that in the event of an earthquake, the ground would drop at least 15 centimeters below the main lighthouse house at Carmanah Point Light Station, and by the same amount below the Pachena duplex. In each case, the structures would collapse.

The engineering firm recommended that the federal government consider geological hazards that could affect fans at all light stations in BC.

The Coast Guard cited the technical reports when it announced in late July that it would remove the lighthouses from the two stations due to safety concerns.

After reading the reports, Abram said he concluded the Coast Guard’s decision to pull staff from light stations was a “total overreaction.”

“When you examine the reports in detail, you will see that there are many options that do not require the removal of personnel.”

Opponents of the tiebreaker plan fear that once gone, the lighthouses will never return and that porters at other stations will also be removed. They want the tie breaker to stop while the inquiry is being made.

Mariners on the island’s west coast rely on lighthouse keepers to provide up-to-date weather forecasts, said Abram, who noted that in recent weeks, automated equipment, including the Carmanah light and radio traffic reports, have been temporarily out of service.

“The only way to get an absolutely certain understanding of what the weather is doing anywhere along the coast is with a human being.”

Lightkeepers issue regular weather reports and are happy to provide weather information to sailors who call, he said.

The destruction of staff is expected to come up at Wednesday’s meeting of the standing committee on fisheries and oceans in Ottawa, said Abram, who has been pushing federal representatives to keep the light stations staffed.

Lifelong fisherman Bob Fraumeni, founder of Finest at Sea Ocean Products Ltd. in James Bay, is another opponent of removing lighthouse keepers from stations.

Fraumeni said if he is fishing on the west coast of the island, his might be the only boat within 300 kilometers.

For fishermen, having staffed light stations is a “convenience thing,” he said.

“You’re not the only one at the edge of the world.”

The beacons are expected to leave both stations by the end of the month, Abram said. Personnel have accepted positions at two other stations, the Coast Guard said.

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