Image: Ross Aikenhead, Derrick Kramer

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Colossal cleanup

Volunteers remove over 1.4 metric tonnes of materials during Chilliwack River Valley cleanup

Nov 20, 2025 | 12:04 PM

CHILLIWACK — Four volunteers removed over 1.4 metric tonnes worth of materials from an abandoned homeless camp in the Chilliwack River Valley Wednesday.

The camp was located north of Ford Mountain Correctional Centre on a remote forest service road. It contained a burnt fifth wheel, torched RV and an incinerated SUV. Altogether, the trash haul totaled 1.47 metric tonnes, or 3,240 pounds.

The group consisted of Rick Krichan, Brian Smith, Derrick Kramer and Ross Aikenhead. They collected the majority of garbage from the site but left the vehicle to be towed by AJ’s Towing.

“It was a mess,” Kramer said. “”We put the saws to work today. The skid steer came in handy.”

“I just had the toys, basically,” Aikenhead said. Jokingly, he added, “I’m not much use anymore.”

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Aikenhead said Krichan’s skid steer made a huge difference in getting the work done. Krichan and Aikenhead both brought chop saws to cut into metal frames that were on site.

Image: Contributed / Ross Aikenhead and a fellow cleanup volunteer are pictured Wednesday.

“Just one of my implements of destruction,” Aikenhead said.

Aikenhead said he received about $300 worth of metal from the cleanup by bringing it to Goodies Trading Ltd., a local metal recycler. He plans to donate that amount to FCM Community Trappers, a volunteer organization that looks after the welfare of feral and barn cats in the greater Chilliwack area.

The encampment is one of nearly two dozen homeless camps in the Chilliwack River Valley east of the Vedder Bridge.

The cleanup has reinforced the need for greater support and assistance from the provincial government, which has the power to enforce backcountry encampments but seldom if ever removes individuals from occupied camps.