Firefighters in Delta, south of Vancouver, spent yesterday getting flames under control at a lumber mill along the Fraser River.
Delta Fire Deputy Chief Dave Ayton says crews got the call at around 1 a-m yesterday and arrived to find a pile of stacked lumber on fire.
He says the blaze was about 15 by 30 metres in size, while several smaller fires were sparked inside the industrial building.
The investigation into the fire was to start once the scene was safe.
An RCMP expert testifying at Ibrahim Ali's murder trial told the court she has never seen a DNA match as close as the one between the suspect and samples found on his alleged victim — except for DNA matches between identical twins. Forensic biologist Christine Crossman said police investigators were very thorough in their collection and testing of genetic samples from the body of the 13-year-old girl, whose identity is protected by a publication ban.
Former Abbotsford police chief Bob Rich has been appointed to look into the release of a man from British Columbia's psychiatric hospital before the man allegedly stabbed three people in Vancouver's Chinatown. Premier David Eby said Thursday that he has read the BC Review Board report on the accused and wants Rich to determine how the man could have been released, despite being a "really significant danger to the public."
A senior government source says Ottawa is planning to remove the G-S-T on construction of new rental apartment buildings. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to make the announcement today as he wraps up a three-day Liberal caucus retreat in London, Ontario.
The group Sikhs for Justice, which has been staging a series of non-binding votes in several countries on the independence issue, says the first stage of balloting in B.C. on Sunday attracted more than 135,000 voters. It says the second stage will be held on Oct. 29 and will add a second question about whether High Commissioner Sanjay Verma was responsible for the "assassination" of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
British Columbia has expanded its tuition waiver program to include all former youth in government care enrolling in post-secondary education. Selina Robinson, post-secondary education and future skills minister, says the program is no longer capped at the student's 27th birthday.
The area under evacuation order around a wildfire in West Kelowna, B.C., is gradually shrinking. The Central Okanagan emergency operations centre says residents of 16 properties along Bear Creek Road are allowed to go home, although they remain on evacuation alert and must be ready to leave again if the McDougall Creek wildfire flares.