New Guidebook for Managing Bats in Buildings
Summer is the season when property owners notice bats in their buildings. They may find guano on the deck, hear bats in the walls, or smell a build-up of guano. The Kootenay Community Bat Project, funded by the Columbia Basin Trust, has received numerous calls with these issues. In many cases, landowners are happy to leave ...
UPDATED: Lightning caused Mount Aylwin wildfire near Silverton new hotspot for Southeast Fire Centre
The BC Wildfire Service is working hard to contain the Mount Aylwin wildfire, located two kilometres south of Silverton and east of Highway 6. The lightning caused interface wildfire, near the base of Mount Aylwin, was discovered Friday (July 10). Currently there are 20 firefighters on the ground battling the blaze with the...
Fire Centre urges continued vigilance; five spot fires near Castlegar
The Southeast Fire Centre is dealing with five wildfires in fairly close proximity to Castlegar today, according to fire information officer Fanny Bernard. The closest – and largest – is at China Creek, eight kilometres (km) west of the Columbia River. It’s roughly 0.6 hectares in size. There’s another near South Bear Paw...
Brief storm brings new fires; little relief
A short storm this evening that many hoped would bring relief to fire ravaged local forests has done more harm than good, according to Southeast Fire Centre information officer Jordan Turner, who said there are four more fires reported in the greater Castlegar area, with more likely to follow. "There are a few fires around...
BC Wildfire Service announces burn out operations planned for the Sitkum Creek Wildfire
The BC Wildfire Service is advising the residents living around Nelson of an increase of smoke surrounding the Sitkum Creek Wildfire as a result of proactive burn out operations. The BC Wildfire Service advised the public in a media release. "The wildfire is located in very steep and dangerous terrain and this burn out is...
Province issues statement on Puntzi Lake aircraft incident
Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson issued the following statement in response to a July 10 incident involving a firefighting aircraft working on the Puntzi Lake wildfire: “On the afternoon of July 10, 2015, an Air Tractor AT-802F Fire Boss amphibious airtanker working on the Punzti Lake wildfire in the Cariboo Fire […]
LETTER: Thanks owed and lessons learned
Ed. Note: for the context of this letter, see full coverage by following this link. I just want to give a huge thanks to all those who played a part in allowing me and my family to keep Chumlee and Rosie. I first must thank my wonderful neighbours who signed my original petition that I submitted to city council and the...
Waneta Expansion Project celebrates grand opening
The Waneta Expansion Limited Partnership (WELP), a partnership between Fortis Inc., Columbia Power Corporation and Columbia Basin Trust, celebrated the grand opening of the $900 million, 335 MW Waneta Expansion Project, near Trail today. The official grand opening celebration took place at the facility with project stakeholders,...
CBT gets $3.34 mill to bring high-speed Internet to the Koots
Everyday tasks that were once done in person, such as shopping, communicating, learning and banking, are now done online. To help Canadians have better access to these and many other online opportunities, the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Industry and Minister Responsible for British Columbia, and David Wilks, Member ...
Explosive excitement on tap at 2015 Firefighter Games in Pass Creek
The term ‘explosive’ is an exaggeration often used to get people excited about something, but make no mistake – it’s a 100-per-cent-accurate description of the Firefighter Games (see attached video, in which the 2014 opening ceremonies include blowing up a car and RV, and check out the resulting 100-plus-foot fireball). Family...
