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A state of emergency and an evacuation order have been issued for Little Qualicum River Estates after a landslide heavily damaged a house and sent a man to hospital.
The man was trapped after the landslide knocked his house off its foundation and it partially collapsed. Firefighters had to dig through debris to get to the man.
He was transported to Nanaimo Regional Hospital with non-life threatening injuries and is expected to be released in the near future.
Firefighters went in through an opening in the back of the house and tried to find the trapped man. Using saws and handtools, they cut through several layers of house debris to get at him, said Dashwood Fire Chief Nick Acciavatti.
“It probably took 45 minutes to an hour to effect a rescue,” said Acciavatti.
The man had been in the basement, his wife on the ground floor, when the landslide slammed into the house.
The wife was able to escape on her own.
Emergency officials knocked on the doors of all houses in the area, above and below the slide, and told residents to leave.
Heavy rain has made the terrain unstable.
People living in the area have been sent to an emergency reception centre at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre where social services will assist them.
The Nanaimo Regional District said a geotechnical assessment is underway to determine the full impact of the landslide.
The district and the Snuneymuxw First Nation are also working on an evacuation alert for residents in the Raines Road area.
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