Squamish forest road reopened freeing hundreds of campers

A section of a forest service road near Squamish, B.C., that left about 350 people stranded on the other side, has now been reopened.

Crews brought in two excavators and worked yesterday through to Monday morning to repair and stabilize the road.

RCMP said the washout around 8 p.m. PT Sunday took out about 12 metres of the Squamish Forest Service Road near Mud Creek, leaving a six- to nine-metre crater in its place.

An RCMP helicopter had to be called in to get a woman who had gone into diabetic shock.

B.C. Ministry of Forests Communications director Vivian Thomas said a number of people who were trying to leave the area Sunday were helped out by ministry staff, local RCMP and staff from the Squamish First Nation.

However, she said because it was a long weekend, most were choosing to stay.

When the washout first happened Sunday afternoon, a number of campers were trying to leave the area on foot, but police were asking them to stay put because the water near the washout was moving fast enough to be hazardous to anyone trying to cross.

A volunteer with a satellite phone remained with the trapped campers overnight in case of an emergency.

The ministry said the forest service road has had washouts in that section in the past.