I stayed here in the winter and while the campsite itself is satisfactory, I took issue with their lack of safety procedures. At one point it was raining heavily and the river was rising with governm... Read More
I stayed here in the winter and while the campsite itself is satisfactory, I took issue with their lack of safety procedures. At one point it was raining heavily and the river was rising with government warnings that it could breach. I went to the office to find out what safety procedures were in place and nobody had a clue. The campsite was 3/4 full…and it was already dark, and if the river breached at 3 in the morning there was no way for us to know unless we woke up all night to check. There was no system to account for people in an emergency, and there was no one assigned to go around to wake us up if the danger became imminent. As it turns out the river did breach on the north side and crept towards the camping area. This campsite is on a small island with one way to get off…a road level bridge that would possibly be below the water line if the river breached. I complained to an old woman named Mary Ellen who claimed to be the camp manager. She was unpleasant and uncooperative and refused to give me the contact information for upper management unless I put it in writing. So I had to go through this ridiculous waiting period after drafting a written request for her to give me the contact information in writing when she could have easily conveyed it in person. Clearly this was an exercise in control and was not in the best interest of our safety. When I finally reached the contact for the campsite I was told that she would not respond further but would handle it from there. To this day I have not been informed that a safety or evacuation procedure is in place.
Here is my problem, currently there has been flooding in Texas where over 100 people died and they are speculating that up to 500 are still missing. The Texas river flooded in the middle of the night, in rv parks and campsites. This was exactly the scenario that worried me when I went to the Fort Camping staff and they could have cared less. I am posting this review because the possibility that similar situation to the Texas river floods could unfold on this very small island with only one way off…except that in Canada the people also risk hypothermia in the water, making survival even worse than Texas. I would be the first one to offer my testimony in a liability trial if this happened. If you are planning to stay for the winter be very aware that the Fraser river does flood and the lower mainland has very heavy rainfall in the winter. They have both 100 year floods, and 500 year floods…we are due for both. And, if it does flood while you are there you are on your own in a vulnerable trailer, with no one notifying people of the danger. So for this reason I would not return to this campsite and for winter campers I would highly recommend that you seek other safer camping locations. Read Less