Vancouver Rundown Monday July 29, 2024

Jul 29, 2024

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Summary

Hundreds of people who live in the province’s Slocan Valley have been told to evacuate as wildfires continue to threaten homes. The 11 kilometre Mulvey Creek fire and the 6 kilometre Ponderosa fire continued to grow on Sunday. Many of the evacuees have been placed at Selkirk College near Castlegar. Meanwhile, cool wet weather’s been helping crews battle many other fires around the province.

Other news…

Two more B.C. hospitals have faced weekend ER closures. Interior Health advised patients and paramedics to avoid the emergency rooms in both Merritt and Oliver. Those in Merritt were redirected to Kamloops on Sunday - those in Oliver had to go up the Okanagan Valley to Penticton. These closures are just the latest in a series of Interior Health ER shutdowns over the past few years.

Three families have been displaced by a large fire that ripped through their townhouse units in Chilliwack early Sunday morning. Crews found flames and smoke coming from one of the homes when they arrived at the Hodgins Ave complex at around 3:30. There were no reported injuries but firefighters say some of the smoke alarms may not have been working.

The Walmart in East Vancouver is closed for now after an arson over the weekend. The company says a fire was deliberately set inside the store on Saturday. Clean up and repairs are now underway. Walmart says it will cooperate with investigators to make sure the arsonist is caught.

Rain for Monday and possible showers on Tuesday. It’s back to sunshine and warmer temperatures by Wednesday. Here are the latest conditions from our private weather station in Surrey.