Canada’s two major railroad operators have been ordered to step up fire prevention efforts as new fires continue to ignite in B-C. Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways must ensure a 60-minute response time to any fires detected along rail lines running through Lytton. He says the goal should be extinguishing or controlling the blaze and asking the local fire service for help if necessary. The Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation as a result of new information about the suspected source of the June 30th fire in Lytton, but C-N has said its trains were not linked to the inferno, and C-P Rail has resumed service through the village.
Squamish RCMP and search and rescue teams are looking for a missing hiker in Garibaldi Provincial Park. Thirty-three-year-old Daniel Ring was dropped off at the Elfin Lakes trailhead on July 7th and had planned to camp at the Rampart Ponds. Police say Ring failed to return to the pickup site two days later and that people on the trails should keep an eye out for him. Ring, who is white, 33-years-old, and has a medium build, was last seen wearing a grey T-shirt, black shorts, a camouflage vest and a camouflage backpack.
Europe’s soccer champions have returned home to the ecstatic cheers of Italians. Captain Giorgio Chiellini and coach Roberto Mancini hoisted the trophy high over their heads as they descended from a charter plane at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport early Monday. The team was to be feted officially later in the day by Italy’s president and prime minister. Italians spent the night honking horns, as did Canadian fans in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, to celebrate Italy’s 3-2 win on penalties over England.
A new wildfire in British Columbia’s south Okanagan has forced the evacuation of nearly 80 properties around Okanagan Falls. The suspected human-caused fire is one of more than 300 currently burning across B-C. The B-C Wildfire Service says 25 fires are ranked as especially mthreatening and include the ongoing blaze that destroyed the Interior village of Lytton on June 30th. Fire risk across most of B-C is ranked high or extreme and Environment Canada has issued another round of heat warnings for mparts of the central and southern Interior through until Wednesday. The B-C Coroners Service has also said the heat was likely a factor in 719 sudden deaths recorded during an unprecedented heatwave at the end of June and early July. (4)
Another 1.4-million COVID-19 vaccine doses are expected to arrive in Canada this week from Pfizer-BioNTech. By the end of the week, Canadian officials expect to have
received a total of more than 55-million doses. Nearly 43 per cent of eligible Canadians have received two doses of vaccine so far, giving them full protection against the virus.
Sales of commercial properties in areas covered by the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board saw a big boost in the first quarter of this year. The board says there were 576 commercial sales in the Lower Mainland during that time, a 46.9 per cent increase over the first quarter of last year. Board economist Keith Stewart says activity in the commercial sector followed a similar pattern to what they’ve seen in the residential market throughout the pandemic. The total value of commercial real estate sales was just over 2.6-billion dollars for the first quarter, a 10 per cent jump from the 2.4-billion in the first part of 2020.
British Columbia health officials announced on Monday there have been 123 new test-positive COVID-19 cases since Friday, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 148,154. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said that there are 658 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 66 individuals are currently hospitalized, 14 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. There were 46 cases between Friday and Saturday, 47 between Saturday and Sunday, and 30 between Sunday and Monday. New cases, as well as total active cases, broken down by health region, are as follows:
- Fraser Health: 38 new cases, 175 total active cases
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 38 new cases, 257 total active cases
- Interior Health: 42 new cases, 167 total active cases
- Northern Health: No new cases, 30 total active cases
- Island Health: Five new cases, 22 total active cases
- Outside of Canada: No new cases, seven total active cases
There have been no new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,760 deaths in British Columbia. To date, 78.8% of all eligible people 12 and over have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In total, 5,721,209 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in BC, 2,068,450 of which are second doses.145,772 people who tested positive have now recovered.
Another round of heat warnings is on the way for parts of the central and southern Interior. Environment Canada has issued heat warnings or special weather statements for the Cariboo south to the Boundary region along the U-S border. Conditions aren’t expected to be as extreme as the sweltering “heat dome” that stalled over B-C for more than a week late last month but the weather office says temperatures in the mid- to high-30s are expected, with only limited cooling at night. Forecasters say it’s expected the system will pass by Wednesday.
R-C-M-P say at least one person is dead and an unknown number of others are injured after a crane collapsed at a construction site in downtown Kelowna, B-C. The Mounties say the collapse knocked out power for most of the city’s downtown core and forced an evacuation of the surrounding area. The City of Kelowna has declared a local state of emergency. Officials say the construction site and the surrounding area remain unstable and unsafe.
R-C-M-P say the investigation into the cause of the deadly wildfire that decimated Lytton, B-C, is narrowing. Police say the investigation now focuses on a parking lot and park area that provides access to a foot and rail bridge across the Fraser River. They are looking for all movements of people, vehicles and train traffic around the time the fire started on June 30th. Two people were killed in the Lytton fire and all others reported missing have been found.
Mayor Doug McCallum and Safe Surrey Coalition counsellors have officially secured the full funding for the Surrey SkyTrain extension. In just one term in office, Mayor Doug McCallum has become the only Mayor in the history of Surrey to deliver in record time on such a major election promise. With this full funding security, Surrey SkyTrain extension is a promise made and a promise kept.