Top Stories – Aug 16 – Wildfire Hits Glenrosa

A new wildfire named Mt. Law, erupted in West Kelowna about dinner time yesterday. A number of properties in upper and lower Glenrosa were ordered evacuated last night with residents now told to report to Emergency Services at the gym at Mt. Boucherie Secondary. The rest of Glenrosa was put on Evacuation Alert. Additional Evacuation Alerts were issued at 11pm for 226 properties in the area west of Glen Canyon and Goats Peak, inclusive of 3801 Gellatly Road south (north end) to 300 Seclusion Bay Rd (south end), bringing the total on Evacuation Alert to approximately 1900. Monday morning is was estimated at 200 hectares and is suspected to be human caused. A local State of Emergency has been declared for West Kelowna.  Check cordemergency.ca for updates.

On the other side of the lake, Kelowna firefighters were dealing with a brush fire at the foot of Dilworth Mtn by the cemetary. They got the call about 9 and were mopping it up about 2 hours later.

With the focus on wildfires this summer, we can remember 18 years ago today when the Okanagan Mountain fire was started by lightning. It grew to 26-thousand hectares, less than half the size of the White Rock Lake fire currently burning near Vernon. 239 building and homes were destroyed and 27-thousand people were forced to evacuate their homes.

The second phase of flood-related repairs begins this week along a portion of Mission Creek Greenway Regional Park. Starting today, 600 metres of the trail will be closed between the Cedars and Smoothing Stones bridges, upstream from the Hollywood Road parking lot and trail entrance. It’s expected the closure will last two weeks.

The continued unprecedented dry and hot conditions in the southern Interior has prompted government to increase the drought level in the Okanagan to 4 on a scale of 1-5. That means licence holders who do not get their water from local water utilities are being asked to reduce water use by half. Many freshwater angling closures are in place throughout the region as well, due to low flows and high water temperatures.

There were 100 more new covid cases in Interior Health last Friday than on Thursday as BCCDC reported 376 positive tests. The Central Okanagan was showing more than 100 new cases every day compared to about half a dozen in the Penticton area. 83 percent of eligible adults in the province have had their first vaccine. It was 78 percent in the Central Okanagan.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced Canadians will go to the polls on September 20th. Trudeau cited the need to continue the fight against covid 19 as one of the reasons for calling the election. Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, has said she believes Canadians should be able to vote safely in a pandemic election.

Starting today thru Thursday in Kelowna, crews will begin paving June Springs Road from Spiers to Luxmoore. Traffic will be single-lane only between 7 am and 5 pm each day. Work is expected to be done by Friday, weather permitting. No on-street parking will be allowed for the week.

Sports

The Vancouver Canucks have signed forward Jason Dickinson to a three-year contract with an average annual value of $2.65 million. The 26-year-old from Ontario, was selected by the Dallas Stars in the first round in the 2013 draft.

Blue Jays outfielder George Springer left Saturday’s game against the Mariners in the seventh inning after suffering a mild left ankle sprain. He came down awkwardly after making a leaping attempt at the wall to catch a fly ball.

The Seattle Seahawks got thumped 20-7 by the Las Vegas Raiders in their first preseason game on the weekend. Next game, they host the Broncos on Saturday night.

The Blue Jays are off today before a couple of games against the nationals in Washington. Yesterday in Seattle they wrapped up 3 games with an 8-3 win to go 1 & 2 in the Emerald City.

The NHL Players Association is strongly encouraging its members to get vaccinated ahead of the upcoming season. Teams could have the power to withhold paychecks while an unvaccinated player is out due to the virus, or if he can’t play because of local regulations such as crossing the border.

For only the third time in PGA Tour history, six golfers went to a playoff and Kevin Kisner won on the second hole of sudden death at the Wyndham Championship. Merritt’s Roger Sloan was part of that playoff.