Top Stories – Aug 29 – Response To Recovery

‘Response to Recovery’ is the theme now as BC Wildfire and West Kelowna’s fire department are the ones tackling the McDougall Creek wildfire. All Smith Creek residents were allowed to go home yesterday. Fire chief Jason Brolund says while there is still a lot of fire up in behind the community, great progress is being made and planned ignitions will continue to burn off potential fuel. He called the fire historical in nature and some people will only be able to return home lot by lot. As crews have been able to safely access the fire damaged areas, additional properties with significant to full loss have been identified, increasing the total from 181 to 189 on the westside. For some residents, it means that their property which previously showed no significant structural damage will now show up to a full loss. Those in West Kelowna Estates, access from Bear Creek Main and neighbourhoods along Westside Road are asked to check cordemergency.ca/propertyinfo for updates as those are the only areas on evacuation order. Owners of properties North of Terrace Mountain Road along Westside Road including La Casa up to and including Fintry Provincial Park were allowed to go home yesterday but remain on evacuation alert. Westside Road remains closed south of La Casa due to fire damage. All the information is at cordmergency.ca .

The record firefighting season has cost the province more than 585 Million dollars so far, with a few weeks still to go. That money only covers firefighting costs, not operating emergency operations centres or housing wildfire evacuees. Forests Minister Bruce Rawlston says the money will be there for whatever is needed. BC Wildfire has 35 fixed-wing airplanes and 130 helicopters under contract and those typically make up about 40 percent of the budget.

About 40 soldiers from the 41 Canadian Brigade Group left Calgary for BC yesterday to help fight wildfires. It’s part of the Canadian Armed Forces’ response to natural disasters. Most of the soldiers are part-time reservists who are deployed to international and domestic missions as needed.

Conservation Officers seized a drone on Sunday that was seen interfering with a helicopter fighting wildfires near Okanagan Lake. The drone operator was identified, the drone was seized from a boat and charges are pending against one individual. The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $100,000, or imprisonment for not more than one year.

KF Aerospace was one of the top-performing suppliers at The Boeing Company’s 2023 Supplier of the Year event. It was recognized in the Safety and Quality category. KF Aerospace maintains, manufactures and installs Boeing products for various customers and supported the 737 Max Entry to Service program for Alaska and United Airlines.

An internal memo shows the federal government is looking for ways to bring more infant formula products to store shelves while it overhauls the way it is regulated to prevent future shortages. It’s part of a change of outdated rules that govern how Canada approves infant formula products. The changes could take years, so Ottawa is considering a stopgap that would exempt products from certain requirements

Hawaii’s electric utility acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire on Maui. But it blamed county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and leaving the scene, only to have a second wildfire break out nearby and become the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. The fire tore through downtown Lahaina, killing at least 115 people and destroying 2,000 structures.

SPORTS

The Toronto Blue Jays have their second of three games against the Washington Nationals later today at Rogers Centre. Last night Toronto took a six to three win.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have waived former BC Lion quarterback Nathan Rourke. He dazzled in his first full season at the helm of the Lions, throwing for 3,349 yards and 25 touchdowns in 10 games.

Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg is ready for training camp after a goalmouth collision injured both of his knees in February. He was subsequently diagnosed with MCL tears.