Fire investigators in Chilliwack are sifting through the charred debris of a church as they try to determine what sparked the blaze that gutted the building.
Flames broke out at the Cross Connection Church just before three yesterday afternoon.
A statement from the fire department says 54 firefighters battled the blaze but couldn't save the 75-year-old building.
Chilliwack R-C-M-P said investigators expected to be able to get inside today as they try to determine if the blaze is suspicious or criminal in nature.
The BC Centre for Disease Control has detected Canada's first known case of a new COVID-19 variant that has swiftly circled the globe and is being monitored by the World Health Organization. The centre said the BA. 2.86 variant of the Omicron strain was identified in a person from the Fraser Health region who hadn't recently been outside the province.
The P-N-E Amphitheatre is shutting its doors after almost 60 years in operation, making way for the construction of a new facility scheduled to open in 2026. A statement from the Pacific National Exhibition says the last show at the venue will be a Blue Rodeo concert on Labour Day, with one show scheduled for each night this week leading up to September 4.
The B-C Real Estate Association says residential property prices in the province have risen despite a drop in sales this year, owing to low inventory on the market. The B-C-R-E-A says in its third quarter forecast that home sales in the province through Multiple Listing Service are expected to fall by 2.8 per cent this year to just over 78-thousand units.
British Columbia is on pace for the deadliest year in its unregulated toxic-drug crisis, with the BC Coroners Service saying another 198 deaths were reported in July. It says there have been at least 1,455 deaths in the first seven months of 2023, the most ever recorded.
Homicide investigators say the victim of what they suspect was a targeted gang shooting in Mission, B.C., has died of his injuries. The Independent Homicide Investigation Team says the 45-year-old man was found wounded late Monday at Mission's Laminman Avenue after reports of gunfire.
Large portions of northeastern British Columbia continue to swelter a day after some areas hit daily record temperatures, as the forecast for rain in the south and Interior brought the promise of relief for some wildfire zones.
