B.C. to end state of emergency as wildfire risk winds down
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Sep, 2023 05:12 PM
The British Columbia government says it is ending the state of emergency imposed last month when thousands of residents were chased out of their homes by wildfires.
The government says in a statement the wildfire risk is diminishing in much of the province as temperatures cool, allowing most residents to return home.
Air India flight 1-82 blew up hours later off Ireland's coast, killing all 329 people aboard -- most of whom were Canadians. Health Minister Adrian Dix will take part in an event today for the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism at the Air India Memorial in Vancouver.
B-C's public utility says it has taken a series of actions since an investigation found a buildup of gases caused the explosion in an underground electrical vault in Vancouver last February. The Crown-owned company says it has decommissioned the 13 other vaults that were identified, so they no longer present a risk.
Canada and the United States are expanding an agreement to share people and equipment to fight wildfires. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and U.S. Ambassador David Cohen are signing the memorandum of understanding in Ottawa today.
Rear Adm. John Mauger says a tail cone of the submersible and other debris from the vessel were found about 1,600 feet from the bow of the famous shipwreck. Mauger says the debris was consistent with the catastrophic loss of the craft's pressure chamber.
The sprawling Victoria area constituency of Langford-Juan de Fuca and urban Vancouver-Mount Pleasant riding are both considered solid NDP territory, having been held by former New Democrat premier John Horgan and cabinet minister Melanie Mark respectively.
The notice of claim says a train passed through the village 18 minutes before the first report of a fire near the tracks that eventually destroyed 90 per cent of the town's buildings and scorched an additional 837 square kilometres of land.