B.C. to end state of emergency as wildfire risk winds down
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Sep, 2023 05:12 PM
The British Columbia government says it is ending the state of emergency imposed last month when thousands of residents were chased out of their homes by wildfires.
The government says in a statement the wildfire risk is diminishing in much of the province as temperatures cool, allowing most residents to return home.
Early estimates suggest wildfires burning on both sides of British Columbia's Okanagan Lake have destroyed almost 60 structures in Kelowna area, officials said Monday. Fire chiefs from West Kelowna, Kelowna, and Lake Country said homes have been destroyed in their communities, with West Kelowna sustaining the most losses and higher numbers still expected.
Metro Vancouver’s transit authority is boosting bus services this fall as students return to schools across the region. TransLink says it will increase service levels on 22 bus routes starting on September 4, in addition to introducing a new extension for route 44 directly linking West Vancouver and U-B-C.
Police in Vancouver says a man has been arrested for assaulting people on the city's seawall this weekend. The department says on social media that officers responded to reports of the attacks Saturday.
A new study has found that previous infection with an Omicron variant of COVID-19 did not protect seniors in long-term care and retirement homes from getting reinfected within a few months. Senior author and McMaster University immunologist Dawn Bowdish says the study results are surprising because they challenge the current thinking about hybrid immunity.
The BC Wildfire Service says weather across British Columbia will be impacted by a hurricane in Southern California, challenging firefighters already battling hundreds of fires that forced 30,000 people from their homes and caused a provincial state of emergency.
An air quality advisory for Metro Vancouver remains in place due to wildfire smoke. The Metro Vancouver Regional District says people should postpone or reduce outdoor physical activity particularly if they have underlying conditions related to breathing.