At least 20 Surrey residents spent the night out of their homes -- and some could be out for much longer -- after flames tore through a housing complex in that city's Clayton neighbourhood.
Surrey Fire Service deputy chief Shelley Morris says four homes have been destroyed and as many as four more are damaged after flames from a garage fire spread quickly.
The fire broke out at around 6:30 last night.
No one were hurt and Morris says crews are still trying to determine a cause of the blaze.dmag
British Columbia is launching a $10.5-million program to help small businesses recover costs due to crime and vandalism. Economic Development Minister Brenda Bailey says the program will begin in the fall and is open to small businesses that suffered vandalism damage retroactive to Jan. 1 this year.
Two people had escaped the home and a neighbour had pulled a third person from the building and attempted life-saving efforts. Firefighters then found a fourth person in the basement as they battled the flames.
Employees at a lodge housing workers for LNG Canada's under-construction facility in Kitimat, B.C., have won wage increases of up to 40 per cent, averting a strike. The workers' union, Unite Here Local 40, says in a statement the new deal was reached after mediation with the employer at the BC Labour Board.
The number of active wildfires in British Columbia has dipped below 450 as cooler weather and recent rain has cut the fire risk, although another hot spell could wipe out those gains as large sections of the province wilt under severe drought.
Two-thirds of cabinet portfolios have switched hands, with seven rookie ministers coming in to replace the seven ministers who are leaving. Five of the new ministers represent constituencies in Ontario, one is from British Columbia and one from Quebec.
Two new mass-timber courses are slated to begin in the fall at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. In addition, the province is providing 3.3-million-dollars to the school for the creation of a mass-timber training hub at B-C-I-T's Burnaby campus.