Top Stories – Aug 20 – Wildfire Fighters Pooped

With a month left to go in what would be a usual season, BC Wildfire says some of its members that have been on the front line are near exhaustion. However more crews continue to be brought in from outside of BC and overseas… where ever they can be found. Since April 1, there have been over 15-hundred fires in BC that have burned 850-thousand hectares.

All evacuation orders and alerts remained in place yesterday as the 800-hectare Mount Law blaze remains out of control in West Kelowna. Residents in the Alert areas are reminded to be ready to leave their home at a moment’s notice. They should be prepared to be away from their home for an extended period of time.

Logan Lake was saved and residents started returning home yesterday, a week after they were told to get out. The Tremont Creek wildfire crept dangerously close to the northern boundary of the community southwest of Kamloops. The fire has grown to 62,500 hectares after it was first discovered on July 12.

The White Rock Lake fire is still classified as out of control and continues to be active. The Emergency Operations Centre has been working to contact all owners whose properties have been significantly damaged in the fires. North Westside Fire Rescue has been busy putting out many spot fires including a dock fire to save a boat on its lift and many trees and stumps.

As an illustration of how the wildfire situation has impacted people… in Central BC yesterday there were a total of 67 evacuation orders and 102 alerts. The closest to that was the southwest with 5 orders and 4 alerts. There were 3,849 firefighters out yesterday and they were helped by 208 helicopters and planes.

There will be a pop-up vaccination clinic at Orchard Park Mall in Kelowna for the next two weekends. It will be open Saturday through Monday from 10-5:30 in the former Le Chateau location. A clinic also continues daily at the Kelowna Yacht Club from 3-7pm.

Nanaimo RCMP is investigating a man’s death following a welfare check last week. After receiving information from the Kelowna RCMP, police found the man, and his death was considered suspicious. He has been identified as 30-year-old Ryan Mosher, who recently moved to Nanaimo from Kelowna.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took shots at Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s “attacks” on health care workers yesterday during a campaign stop in Edmonton. He also promised to create a $250 million Critical Shortages Fund to address the shortage of nurses and health care workers across Canada if he becomes prime minister.

Of the 689 new cases of Covid-19 in BC yesterday… there were 553 the day before… 278 were in the Interior. There was no comment from Dr. Bonnie Henry on the rising numbers where there are just under 6,000 active cases. There was an additional death in the interior, where 45 people are now in hospital.

Sports

At BC Place last night, the Edmonton Elks picked up their first victory of the season with a 21-16 win over the BC Lions who fall to 1 and 3. One game in the CFL tonight and that has Montreal in Calgary.

The Arizona Coyotes will need to find a new home at the conclusion of the upcoming season. The city of Glendale has informed the NHL club that it will not renew the operating agreement for Gila River Arena. The club also reportedly had multiple notices about outstanding balances owed.

The Toronto Blue Jays are at home for a few games. They begin a weekend series against Detroit tonight. The Jays have slipped a few spots and are now in 4th place in the AL East.

The Los Angeles Rams’ second joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders ended early when the teams had a prolonged brawl yesterday. Coach Jon Gruden says it was two guys in a special teams period, and then it was a lot of trash talking that just escalated.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority said there is evidence infectious people with COVID were at the Roughriders game August 6 and infections occurred. There were 33-thousand fans at Mosaic Field and 9 cases have been tracked so far.

Going into the second round of the PGA’s National Trust in New Jersey, Justin Thomas and John Rahm are tied for the lead at 8 under par. Mackenzie Hughes is top Canadian 4 shots back.