Nuu-chah-nulth language keeper Jeneva Touchie (Čakʷaasiqḥw̓iłim) is Ucluelet’s 2025 Citizen of the Year. 

What began as an explosive wildfire that sent a mushroom-cloud-like plume of smoke above Port Alberni is now a steaming, charred mountain slope – thanks in large part to rain after three days of concerning growth.

With the rain pouring down on the Uchucklesaht village of Ethlateese, young Taylor Johnson carefully circles a newly unveiled totem pole on Aug. 15. Her elders watch, reciting a chant in a ceremony to reawaken the pole.

“We have to reopen the eyes,” explained carver Tim Paul, who led a handful of other artists in the totem’s creation over the better part of a year. “We had a closing of the eyes ceremony before travel down here, so we need to reopen the eyes of our grandparent. But also we need to make it come alive.”

A rapidly growing wildfire south of Port Alberni has sent a current of anxiety through the community, leading officials to caution residents to be selective in their sources of information to avoid unnecessary panic.

Wednesday brought a dramatic spike in levels of fine particulate matter, as the Mount Underwood forest fire spread thick smoke through the Alberni Valley and beyond.

The 2025 Tlu-piich Games were shut down halfway through the 3x3 basketball tournament at EJ Dunn Elementary School due to the encroaching smoke from the Mount Underwood wildfire. 

Les Doiron, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) vice-president, delivered the bad news to a gymnasium packed with hungry ballers at around 12:30 p.m., Aug. 13.

“We’ve never seen smoke like this in the valley before. It’s dangerous, right. Ditidaht, they’ve got no power. It’s for the safety of all of our people,” said Doiron.

Although winds have picked up today and the biggest concern is the northern edge of the Mount Underwood wildfire south of Port Alberni, the city is not currently threatened, according to an update from the BC Wildfire Service.

Over 2,000 hectares in size, the wildfire service is expecting the blaze to continue to grow two days after it was first spotted on Aug. 11. 

A neighbourhood at the southern end of Port Alberni has been put under evacuation alert, as the Mount Underwood wildfire has grown to over 2,000 hectares in less than two days.

Issued by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District Emergency Operations Centre, the alert is not an order for people to evacuate, but serves as a warning for Cameron Heights residents to prepare for this possibility in case the situation worsens. This evacuation alert also applies to those on a Tseshaht reserve at the southern end of Port Alberni, which includes Polly’s Point.

Officials are describing a fire that is rapidly growing south of Port Alberni as explosive, although they say that the city is not currently in danger.

Since it was first spotted early in the evening on Monday, Aug. 11 the Mount Underwood wildfire has grown to 1,391 hectares, according to an update given by the B.C. Wildfire Service in the early afternoon of Aug. 12. The provincial agency designates the blaze as an “out of control wildfire of note”.

Under an oppressive August sun, the 2025 edition of the Tlu-piich Games got underway on Monday with track and field events at Bob Dailey Stadium.