Top Stories – Aug 23 – Mount Law Cools

Showers and cooler temperatures have been helping firefighters dealing with the Mt. Law wildfire in West Kelowna. There were planned ignitions on the weekend to burn off ground fuel, but we’re told smoke and an orange glow at night will be visible for a while. The evacuation alerts and orders are still in place this morning.

Ministry of Transportation workers will have their work cut out for them in the wake of wildfires that closed the Coquihalla last week. Between Mine Creek and Kingsvale, about 18 kilometres of posts and wildlife fencing needs to be replaced. That works out to about 65-hundred posts and they hope to have it done by winter.

While the White Rock Lake wildfire was less visible yesterday, it remains active and out of control. The Evacuation Order for 1,316 properties and Alert for 850 more remain unchanged for properties in the North Westside community. BC Hydro has been working with fire crews to install new power infrastructure.

The rest of the interior health district has joined the Central Okanagan in being required to wear a mask in indoor public places. Dr. Bonnie Henry says there has been a bit of a levelling off of new cases, but 63-thousand people in the Central and North Okanagan remain unvaccinated, most between 20 and 40. On Friday there were 49 people with covid in hospital in I-H with 23 in intensive care.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says that BC is considering following the proof-of-COVID vaccination document that’s set to be implemented in Quebec starting Sept. 1. The initiative targets non-essential services like festivals, restaurants, bars and gyms. He adds the impact of unvaccinated people and a lot of transmission is still a threat to long-term care and other places where our most vulnerable people are. It could come at a 1pm news conference today.

In West Kelowna, the skatepark at Memorial Park will temporarily close for up to two days starting today so crews can move light posts to the new skatepark. Work is anticipated to be complete on Wednesday and the facility will re-open. Construction of the new skatepark is progressing and is expected to open this fall.

Some regional district parks on the west side have been reopened as the threat from the Mt. Law fire decreases. They include Lower Glen Canyon Regional Park, Gellatly Road to Highway 97 including Hebert Road, Brown Road and Gellatly Road south entrances and the Gellatly Heritage and Nut Farm Regional Parks.

Heads up for some roadwork beginning tomorrow in East Kelowna. Single-lane alternating traffic will be in effect at McCulloch and Dall roads between 9am and 3pm for road widening to accommodate a 2 metre-wide bike lane. Prep work is expected to be complete by the end of the week, weather depending.

West Kelowna will receive part of $75 million for First Nations and local governments for projects to better prepare for, mitigate and respond to emergencies. The Community Emergency Preparedness Fund is administered through the Union of BC Municipalities. West Kelowna is set to get 150-thousand dollars for a Flood Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan.

Sports

At the Women’s World Hockey Championships in Calgary, Canada is now 2 & 0 after a 5-1 win against Russia. The Canadians outshot the Russians 62-7 who got their lone goal on the powerplay with 1.3 seconds left. We play Switzerland tomorrow.

They will try to complete the PGA Tour playoff Northern Trust today. The final round in New Jersey was postponed yesterday when the US east coast was hit by a tropical storm. Cameron Smith and Jon Rahm had the lead at 16 under par.

There is Monday Night Football tonight. New Orleans hosts Jacksonville in a preseason game that’s on TSN at 5. On the weekend, the Seahawks lost 30-3 to the Broncos. In 2 games Seattle has been outscored 50-10.

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera became the 28th player in history to join the 500-homer club yesterday. Cabrera hit the milestone blast off Blue Jays pitcher Steven Matz in the sixth inning at Rogers Centre.

The Vancouver Whitecaps first home game at BC Place in about 18 months was a successful one. They took a 2-1 win over LAFC on Saturday with a goal in the 89th minute.

The Chicago White Sox move into Rogers Centre today after the Blue Jays had a weekend series with Detroit. In that, they went 1 & 2 and remain 4th in the AL East.