Shifting weather patterns are helping fire crews fighting a wildfire that forced the evacuation of the community of Tumbler Ridge in northeast British Columbia. Wildfire BC says shifting winds, cooling temperatures and rain showers over the weekend allowed firefighters to prepare protective fire guards for the area surrounding Tumbler Ridge, which was threatened by an approaching wildfire. An evacuation order last week saw most of the community’s 24-hundred residents leave Tumbler Ridge to stay in nearby Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. Temporary entry permits to the Tumbler Ridge area were issued over the weekend for people with legitimate needs to enter evacuated areas to take care of livestock, maintain critical infrastructure or other essential services.
Pilot vehicles are guiding commercial service vehicles carrying essential goods along an unpaved detour route to Vancouver Island communities whose primary transportation link is cut off by a wildfire. BC’s transportation ministry enlisted the pilot vehicles to lead convoys of large trucks and other commercial vehicles along the winding, narrow backroad to supply the towns of Port Alberni, Ucluelet and Tofino. A wildfire near Cameron Lake has halted traffic along Highway 4, the area’s major transportation route. The ministry says it will include private vehicles in the guided convoys, but recommends essential travel only until further notice.
A Vancouver family known for its philanthropy is making a 20-million-dollar donation today to a substance use treatment centre in memory of their adult son and brother, who died in 2016 of an opioid overdose. Jill Diamond, executive director of Vancouver’s Diamond Foundation and sister to Steven Diamond, says her brother may still be alive today if he had received the care being offered at the city’s St. Paul’s Hospital. She says the donation to the St. Paul’s Foundation will help fund the hospital’s Road to Recovery program that aims to fill treatment gaps by cutting weeks off waitlists and providing supports to patients through a full spectrum of treatment services in one location. Jill Diamond says her brother was known as a giving addictions counsellor and massage therapist who, despite long periods of sobriety, faced a prolonged struggle with substance use disorder that saw him in and out of treatment.
Vancouver Police are investigating a shooting on the Downtown Eastside, where a man in his thirties suffered life-threatening injuries. Sergeant Steve Addison says one person was arrested at the scene, but investigators have yet to determine if there are more suspects. He says the shooting occurred Saturday evening inside a building near East Hastings Street and Princess Avenue. Addison says the shooting victim was found outside the building and given medical help at the scene before being taken to hospital by paramedics.
Canada Post says it will unveil a stamp today honouring British Columbia Indigenous leader George Manuel. Canada Post says the stamp is part of a set that pays tribute to the lives and legacies of Indigenous leaders and activists, to be released on National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21. Manuel, from BC’s Interior who died in 1989, sought the political unity of Indigenous peoples of North, Central and South America as well as Europe and Asia, leading to what eventually would become the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Canada Post says it is also unveiling stamps for Indigenous leaders Nellie Cournoyea (CORN’-yay) and Thelma Chalifoux.
Greater Victoria is experiencing a shortage of life guards despite local pools and recreation centres offering scholarships and training discounts. A spokeswoman at Saanich Commonwealth Place says to meet current demand the pool needs to hire 50 more life guards and 40 swimming instructors. The spokeswoman says the recreation centre is now looking to hire adults in their 50s who are looking for career changes. Other pools in the Victoria area say they are also struggling to find lifeguards.