The Alberni Valley Rescue Squad recovered a second body from the Sarita River on Tuesday, one of two men who died when their pickups were swept into the river after the Bamfield Main road flooded amid heavy rains.
Search and rescue crews had to wait until Tuesday for waters to recede to a point where it was safe to carry out the recovery operation, with help from Arrowsmith Search and Rescue and Airspan Helicopters.
“We are truly saddened by the losses that occurred on the Sarita River. These are never the results that anyone is looking for, however, we are happy to have helped to provide closure to family and friends,” said search manager Rick Johns.
Port Alberni RCMP said on Sunday that the body of one man had been found near his submerged truck. The body of the second man was confirmed on Monday to be in his vehicle, but crews had difficulty reaching the truck because of continuing high levels of fast-moving water.
The families of the missing men have been notified.
This was a tragic incident and a great loss to two families,” said RCMP Sgt. Chet Carroll. “Our hearts and thoughts are with the families of the victims.
The two men were identified by Bamfield residents as Bob Baden and Ken Duncan, who had been reported missing.
“The community is just a ball of grief,” said Rose Janelle, who runs the Bamfield post office and said she knew Baden well.
“I met him the very first day I came here, 43 years ago. Really such a loss. Dear old friends … You don’t expect them to go away on you. Such a mean kind of death. It’s a hard one to swallow.”
Businesses have temporarily closed their doors and a community meeting was postponed.
Bob Beckett, Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District director for Bamfield, called for grief counselling for area residents, saying the community has suffered a “number of losses” over the last year and a half.
“I really do think our community would benefit by being able to talk to some professionals to help them understand and move forward with this terrible loss,” said Beckett, who says Baden was a neighbour.
During Beckett’s first term, Baden served as an alternate director on the district’s board, and he volunteered on many local committees and was passionate about the community, Beckett said.
Long-time friend Marc Phillips said Baden had been heading to Victoria to pick up his wife, Shirley, when his truck was swept away. The family dog, Ava, also died.
Baden was nicknamed Builder Bob because he and a business partner built many of the homes in Bamfield. The two had also owned the local hardware store, Phillips said.
The store was sold a couple of years ago and Baden, who had worked six days a week, retired.
He found time to work on his waterfront property, go salmon fishing and hiking, and spend time with a group of up to a dozen friends who held house parties and celebrated special events together, Phillips said.
A cheerful personality, Baden loved telling jokes, often at his own expense, he said.
Baden was liked by everybody, said Phillips, adding his friend especially delighted in tracking down something for someone who needed something, even it was as small as a tent peg. “He was a great supporter of the community as well. He was at every meeting, either chairing or being at the meeting.”
The community is left wondering how the two pickup trucks both ended up in the river.
“The only thing we can think of is that there was a flash flood that took them both away,” Phillips said. “Maybe a log jam on the water came down.”
Baden was a very experienced driver who had driven that road for decades and would not have done something risky, Phillips said. “There had to be a catastrophic event that happened at that particular time.”
Kevin McAughtrie, co-owner of Bamfield Mercantile and Marine, said he had enjoyed friendly conversations with Duncan, whose loss he called one more “serious blow” to the community. “We’ve been hammered with the loss of community members.”
Duncan, had worked for the Huuy-ay-ayt Group of Businesses, said Chief John Jack, who is also the chair of the regional district board.
Jack figures the trucks could have been swept up in at least four feet of water either on the road or between the road and the river, which is affected by tides as well.
Road accidents on the Bamfield Main have claimed the lives of more than a dozen people. A $30-million upgrade was completed after two UVic students died when their bus went off the road during a 2019 bus trip.
Last weekend’s flooding damaged some sections of the road, eroding shoulders, undermining surfacing and clogging culverts, although it’s still drivable, said Jack, noting workers are installing flags to direct drivers away from unsafe sections.
One problem, he said, is that although there are multiple owners of portions of the road — from forestry companies to First Nations and the province — “Nobody’s the official monitor. Nobody’s communicating the risks.”
Better communication has to become the first order of business in the wake of the recent deaths, said Jack, who also said it might be time to change the industrial classification of the road, which, along with forestry companies, is used by the nation’s members and employees, Bamfield residents, the Bamfield Marine Science Centre and others.
It’s also an alternate route in the region when emergencies — such as forest fires — cut off other main routes.
