Drivers were still experiencing waits at some gas stations on Monday, but the situation appears to have improved.
Erik Gault, head of operations for Peninsula Co-op, said nine of the company’s 12 Victoria-area stations had gas on Monday morning. The other three have been temporarily closed in an effort to build the gas inventory at key locations so there is some in reserve.
“We’re only at risk of one or two running out right now, and we’re waiting for loads,” he said mid-afternoon.
There are also fewer gas lineups, said Gault, who expects some shortages to continue for the next two weeks.
“I would say the temperature for the travelling public is certainly better than it was,” he said. “The challenge is we’re trying to fill a swimming pool with a garden hose and the drain’s still open at the bottom.”
West Shore RCMP asked for witnesses to an incident on Friday at the Shell station at Island Highway and Six Mile Road in View Royal, where it was alleged that a motorist drove over a pedestrian’s foot, followed by the pedestrian kicking the vehicle’s door.
The gas station was busy at the time, with a line of vehicles leading from the pumps across the parking lot, across the sidewalk and down the outside lane of the Island Highway, said police, who said the incident was not captured on gas station video surveillance.
Anyone who witnessed the altercation or has dashcam video is asked to contact West Shore RCMP at 250-474-2264.
In Victoria, Andy Harris, who lives across from the Shell station at the intersection of Fort Street and Yates Street, said he’s seen a steady stream of vehicles, and it can get noisy.
“Outside my window, honking all hours, screaming, yelling, all that fun stuff,” Harris said. “It’s just been crazy the last couple of days.”
David Matviw, who was in line Monday to fill up at the station, said he doesn’t mind the 30-litre gas limit per customer brought in by the province last week. “I think it’s a good idea,” he said, adding some people were getting greedy at first at both the pumps and at grocery stores.
Aren Scott, who was also at the station, said he was “running on fumes” in his work truck last Thursday when lineups first started forming around the city, and pulled into a station on Esquimalt Road.
“They ran out exactly when I was about to fill up.”
He was lucky to be able to get home and move his tools into his wife’s vehicle, and finally got to fill his truck Monday.
Both the Nanaimo-Ladysmith and Cowichan Valley school districts have taken steps to keep staff off the roads as repair efforts continue and gas remains in short supply.
The Cowichan Valley district is redistributing some staff and operations to keep people closer to home, and also postponing most activities that require car or bus travel, while the Nanaimo-Ladysmith district is encouraging staff who are able to work from home to do so, and also postponing some activities.
In response to drivers posting on Facebook about running short of gas, an Oak Bay woman offered to do errands for fellow Oak Bay residents in her electric vehicle.
“Hi Oak Bay family,” Zoe Carlin Fyfe wrote on the Oak Bay Local page. “I’m seeing posts concerned with finding gas. While I can’t give help there, I am lucky to have an electric car.
“If you are low on gas but need to run essential errands (food shopping, doctor’s appt.) please PM me and I’ll see if I can help.”
West Shore RCMP Const. Alex Berube said if lineup altercations are happening, they’re probably short-lived. “People are realizing that their temper tantrum is not going to get anywhere,” he said. “I think people are realizing that there is gas, let’s not rush to get there.
“Hopefully things are starting to get back to normal.”
It’s been a similar story in Saanich, said Saanich police Const. Markus Anastasiades.
“Most of it’s been pretty civil,” he said. “We’ve had some complaints about dialogue, but nothing that’s turned physical.”
