Highway travellers should be aware of the shrinking availability of gas services between Watson Lake and Fort Nelson, B.C., says a lodge worker along the way.

Marianna Keller is one of five staff members at Muncho Lake's Northern Rockies Lodge. She told the Star she has faced some hot highway travellers who've been caught unaware by the recent winter closures of several lodges.

The Liard Hot Springs Lodge, located 217 kilometres south of Watson Lake, stopped serving gas when its last delivery ran out in November. The Fort Nelson First Nation is planning to lease or sell the business, and has called for offers by Jan. 22.

Keller pointed out the Toad River Lodge, some 63 kilometres south of Muncho Lake, is also closed this winter for the first time. Highway lodges at Fireside and Tetsa River are also shuttered.

"People should know they have to fill up in Watson Lake or Fort Nelson," she said.

Contact Creek, south of Watson Lake, is also open for gas between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Keller said the Northern Rockies Lodge is open for gas between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.

It's just not possible nor feasible to stay open 24 hours a day, she said.

Richard Behn, a former manager of the Liard Hot Springs Lodge who's taken over caretaker duties for the winter, said the lodge is officially closed. However, he's still on the premises, and if anybody's in trouble, he said, he'll certainly do what he can.

With so many lodges idled for the winter now, the Northern Rockies Lodge has become something of a hospice for highway travellers, lodge owner Urs Schildknecht said in an interview from his Vancouver home Wednesday.

Schildknecht said his business, from a financial point of view, can only handle so much of being the Good Samaritan.

When there were more highway lodges open, motorists needing a break or assistance might stop at his place, the hot springs, Toad River, Fireside and so on, he said.

The lodge owner said now that his is the only lodge in a long stretch of highway between Watson Lake/Contact Creek and Fort Nelson, he's seeing a lot more travellers who just want to use the washroom and take a break.

Everytime the door opens, he noted, he loses costly heat. Everytime a highway traveller uses the washroom, his water consumption goes up and the limit on his water-use permit shrinks.

When travellers are waylaid because of highway conditions or other reasons, when they just want to lounge in the lobby, one of the limited number of staff needs to remain nearby, instead of performing other duties, he said.

Schildknecht said selling a cup of coffee here and there doesn't cut it for revenue to offset the additional costs, nor does pumping 600 or 700 litres of gas a day during the winter months.

The lodge, he emphasized, will always be open for its overnight guests, to make sure breakfast is available in the morning and supper in the evening.

Other than that, there may come a time when the lodge will have to close up during the day, he said.

Schildknecht said he'd like to sit down with federal and B.C. provincial officials to see if something can be done to address the shrinking number of highway lodges, which often serve as emergency facilities.

Perhaps, he said, the government should look at the possibility of building one or two modern highway shelters - heated, outfitted with washrooms, and well-maintained.

It's a long way between Watson Lake and Fort Nelson to wait for emergency assistance, and travellers could find themselves in need of shelter, he said.

Schildknecht said perhaps there are some financial or other incentives that can be provided to his business to make it more economical in the winter months.

As it is, provincial tax increases and regulatory policies are making the lodge business more and more expensive to manage, he said.

The B.C. government's new carbon tax, the lodge owner pointed out, has alone added $10,000 a year to operational costs, on top of the 10,000 litres of diesel fuel every month to keep the heat and lights going.

Never mind the propane bill, and other monthly expenses.

He said there once was a time when provincial inspection staff would make regular visits to check water quality at facilities along the highway.

It's now up to the individual business owners, who are then responsible for transporting their samples to Fort Nelson, Schildnecht said.

It all adds up, he points out.

"We are considering closing down in the winter because I can't afford to be a hospice up there," Schildknecht said.

Richard Hair, owner of the Contract Creek Lodge, said he's not thinking about closing up, but he knows of what Schildknecht speaks.

Highway travellers carrying their own gas will pull up, empty their Jerry cans into their vehicles right in his yard, use the washroom and leave, he said.

Hair said he doesn't say anything. He is not about to prevent travellers from using the facilities, because he'd like to think if he and his wife were travelling, and his wife had to use a washroom, that she'd be welcome too.

There is a cost, however, he said.

"These generators are just getting way too expensive to run," said Hair, alluding to the 4,000 to 5,000 litres of diesel he goes through every month. "That is one of the reasons all these places are closing up.

"And if you look at Muncho Lake and the Liard Hot Springs, they are running even bigger generators. I can't imagine what their fuel bills are every month - $8,000 a month?"

Hair said he and his wife got out of the restaurant business about 10 years ago, but continue to offer coffee, snacks, souvenirs, gas and towing services, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, though business isn't like it used to be - not at all.

"I have been here 25 years and I have not seen the highway as quiet as it is," Hair said.

Gone, for instance, is the traffic from Whitehorse and Watson Lake to the Liard Hot Springs, he said.

"We just don't see that anymore. It's just too expensive to run there and back."

RCMP Sgt. Paul Thalhofer, the detachment commander for Watson Lake, said with the losses of a couple of more highway lodges, he's hoping that highway officials are vigilant in changing the signs reminding motorists of the next-closest gas station.

Motorist should know where services are available, and should be carrying the standard winter travel gear to ensure their safety should something happen along the way, Thalhofer said.