B.C. drought fuelling record fire season

Good morning!

Today’s newsletter might be slightly different than what you’re used to. Geoff is off galavanting in the great outdoors (by the time you’re reading this, he should be back) so in the meantime I’m going to be taking over for the day.

I’m Robert, I’m the Lookout managing editor and write the Ottawa version of the newsletter.

Today we’ve got news of drought, fire, and hopefully some less oppressive stuff, too.

Let’s get to it.

— Robert Hiltz

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WEATHER

Monday: 23 🌡️ 13 | 🌦

Tuesday: 23 🌡️ 14 | ☀️

Wednesday: 26 🌡️ 15 | ☀️

WEEKLY LOOKOUT

🚨 Policing in Surrey: This week the provincial government will announce whether or not it accepts the City of Surrey’s plan to bring back the RCMP to police the town. [CBC]

CLIMATE

Drought and fire plague B.C.

What happened: The find out era of climate change is fully upon us as drought conditions in the province feed wildfires across B.C. This weekend at least 40 communities in the province were under evacuation orders, and another 35 were on alert to leave, CTV reported.

“We expect long days ahead.… The federal government has noted that we expect this to be nationally the worst fire season in 100 years and we don't expect B.C. will be an exception to that rule given where we are right now,” Premier David Eby said, according to CBC.

• Federal assistance is on its way to the province, and the military is being mobilized.

Drought: Four regions in the province are at drought Level 5, the highest level. The drought is most severe in the northeast, Bulkley Lakes, and east and west Vancouver Island, but across the province the dry conditions are putting crops and livestock at risk, the Vancouver Sun reported.

• Ranchers are selling off huge portions of their herds because they don’t have the ability to keep their cattle fed and watered. Many ranchers are moving their herds to grasslands in the valleys so they don’t starve in the dried out mountain areas. Typically, the valley grasslands are kept for winter hay. The effects of the sell off and the loss in hay are expected to be felt for years, the Sun reported.

Water use fines: The City of Vancouver is cracking down on people disobeying water use restrictions. The city issued 287 tickets to people watering their lawn outside of strict timelines. That’s totalled $71,750 for the $250 infractions. Even-numbered homes can water their lawns on Saturday mornings, while odd-numbered homes can water theirs Sunday mornings, the city said.

• The province has been asking everyone to conserve water — through shorter showers, less frequent laundry machine use, and more. Confused about what rules apply to you and why? CBC has a good explainer.

Where there’s fire…: Two thirds of B.C. is under a smoky skies bulletin, CTV reported. Only Vancouver Island, the west coast, and the northwest have clear skies. Squamish, Victoria, the Fraser Valley and the metro Vancouver region are all fortunate to have air quality in the 2-3 range, considered “low risk.”

This year is already the second-worst fire season in history, and is on pace to catch and surpass the 2018 record:

Killed on duty: The firefighter killed Thursday was identified as 19-year-old Devyn Gale. She was killed by a falling tree near Revelstoke while working to clear brush. She’s the fourth firefighter to die on the job in B.C. since 2010.

One more thing: Drivers are being asked to stop pulling over to take pictures of wildfires because of the hazards it causes on the road, particularly in thick smoke conditions, CTV reported. BC Transportation also reminded anyone driving through a wildfire zone should keep their head and tail lights on at all times to make sure they’re visible.

VANCOUVER BY THE NUMBERS

🚂 100: The age of the 1077 steam locomotive which still runs at the Fort Steele Heritage Town. The train was one of the country’s longest-serving steam trains, starting as a logging hauler on Vancouver Island in 1923, until it retired in 1969. [CBC]

🎥 74: This many Canadian actors signed an open letter telling their colleagues in B.C. to vote down a contract extension with Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers, while the Screen Actors Guild strike is ongoing. [CBC]

THE AGENDA

🚨 Julian Jones was shot and killed by the RCMP in 2021 after police said he advanced on them with what appeared to be knives and a taser failed to subdue him, according to just-released details of the incident. The Independent Investigations Office said the shooting was justified, and did not suggest the Crown prosecute the officers. The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation said it was disappointed with the outcome and hopes to reverse that decision. [Vancouver Sun]

📱 Social media may no longer be a reliable way to get information to people in an emergency. DriveBC, the provincial account for the province’s Ministry of Transportation, was blocked from posting critical route information during wildfires in Tumbler Ridge by Twitter during the platform’s self-imposed rate limits. [CBC]

🏥 An elderly man was found lying outside the doors in critical condition in the middle of the night of the Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt had to be taken 85 km by ambulance to Kamloops because the ER was closed. Nicola Valley has closed its ER 11 times this year because of a nursing shortage. [Vancouver Sun]

📰 Several B.C. news outlets, including The Tyee, CHEK News, and a number of Black Press titles, have all had their access to Facebook and Instagram cut off by its parent company Meta. The company is avoiding paying new fees imposed on sharing news by eliminating the sharing of news. [CBC]

👏 A 69-year-old woman with dementia reported missing last week was found safe and reunited with her family. The woman was found in the foothills of Burke Mountain. [CTV]

📜 The cities of Surrey, Victoria, and Nanaimo all proclaimed July 3 as “Guru Purnima Day” at the behest of the “United States of Kailasa,” a country which does not exist. The founder of the group is wanted in India on suspicion of rape and sexual assault. [CBC]

🚒 Four people are without homes after a severe fire in a Burnaby duplex on the weekend. No one was injured in the blaze. [CTV]

🫎 A B.C. man was fired for picking up a baby moose in his truck and driving it five hours away. He’d tried to scare the moose off a highway when it hopped in his work truck, the man then noticed a bear on the other side and couldn’t bring himself to leave the moose to die. Transporting the moose broke company protocols, and may result in wildlife charges. The moose has been taken to a wildlife rehab centre. [CBC]

🏕️ An aggressive cougar that ate a dog forced the temporary closure of a campground at Cultus Lake Provincial Park so the animal could be caught. Unfortunately, cougars that are aggressive toward people or pets are not relocated. [CTV]

🪧 After four months, the BC Transit strike in the Fraser Valley is approaching the record for the longest transit strike in provincial history. Drivers have been on strike since March 20, and a mediator has been appointed to try and break the impasse. [CTV]

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• The two new high-speed, passenger-only catamaran Hullo Ferries between Nanaimo and Coal Harbour arrived in town for testing before their launch next month. [Daily Hive]

• The Whitecaps and star midfielder Julian Gressel have still not agreed on a contract extension. Gressel will become a free agent at the end of the season. [Daily Hive]

• Fifty-five years after they got married for the first time, this Victoria couple remarried after years, and other marriages, apart. [CTV]

• There really is something special about breweries at night. [Reddit]

TOP PHOTO

Reddit user Count3D posted this photo and said they’d “never seen Vancouver from this angle before.” (Long lenses are a wonderful thing!)

Do you have a photo you want to share with the Lookout community? Send it in, we love running reader photos!