New evacuations ordered as B.C. wildfire flares, but rain possible this weekend
The BC Wildfire Service says more than 100 new fires have broken out this week in British Columbia as lightning storms and a return to hot weather helped push the number of active fires to nearly 300.
Almost three dozen of those blazes have the potential to endanger people and property, and new evacuations have been ordered as the 325-square kilometre White Rock Lake fire pushes towards Highway 97 between Kamloops and Vernon.
The wildfire service says fire danger in the southern Interior is ranked high to extreme and strong winds forecast over the White Rock Lake fire have the potential to cause further flare-ups through the day.
The Columbia Shuswap Regional District expanded its evacuation orders Wednesday night to include about 600 residents in the community of Falkland, telling them to register at a reception centre 50 kilometres away.
There are more than 60 evacuation orders in the province affecting residents and businesses in roughly 4,200 properties who have been told to leave as fire encroaches on their land or on their exits to safety.
Environment Canada is calling for showers over most of B.C. this weekend, possibly giving firefighters a break, but the reprieve will likely be short lived as hot dry weather is expected to return next week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.