SUMMERLAND, B.C.: Agur Lake Camp, located 20 km west of Summerland, is B.C.’s only fully accessible campground for people with disabilities and their families and caregivers. The camp provides an oasis for rest and rejuvenation from the challenges of living with an illness or disability. Recently, the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC) funded a wildfire risk reduction project which resulted in the removal of fuel from over six hectares of land, a project critically important to protect those who visit and operate the camp, as well as the infrastructure of the camp itself.
“There are a lot of families and groups that service people with disabilities who return every summer,” said Debbie Schneider, office manager and director of the camp. “We had over 400 visitors join us in 2019. Many of them come from the Okanagan, but a large number also come up from the lower mainland. We are a camp open to people with many disabilities, not just physical.”
In 2015, the BC Wildfire Management Branch identified that the Camp was in the wildland urban interface and categorized the area as a high to extreme fire threat. The Agur Lake Camp Society Board of Directors wanted to reduce the amount of fuel and reduce wildfire risk to the camp’s 10 structures and camp users. Camp volunteers had been actively reducing fuel loads on the Crown lease area, but the size and scope of the work required expertise and additional resources to be effective.