Thursday - May 15, 2025 - Agassiz spray park opening delayed

🌧 High 14C

Good morning!

Did you hear those explosions Tuesday night?! Probably not, unless you live shockingly close to me. Around midnight Tuesday, my husband and I woke to a series of banging sounds—a metallic noise that shook the house. At first, I wondered if a kid had fallen out of bed, but no crying ensued. It happened again, and then again. When my husband got up to investigate, he saw the flicker of flames illuminating the trees outside.

Apparently, two cars parked kitty-corner from our house had burst into flames. The periodic explosions were, presumably, the batteries burning up. Neighbours were emerging from their houses to watch the massive flames and billowing plume of smoke curl away from the cars. (Someone had already called the fire department.) A few minutes later, the firefighters were on scene and dousing both cars with water and foam.

It was all over by 12:30am—or at least over enough that I decided to go back to bed. The twisted carcass of one vehicle and the mangled body of the other were all that remained in the morning. I did no official reporting on the incident, but you can read the Fraser Valley Today’s story here.

– Grace

P.S. It’s your last day to submit your playground memories! You can share them here.

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Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope 

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.

News

Semá:th looks to expand

The Semá:th First Nation hopes to bring more homes and better food security to its members with the creation of a new reserve at the base of Sumas Mountain.

The nation has applied to Indigenous Services Canada to begin the process of creating a new reserve and expanding its existing reserve near Highway 1. The properties are currently within the City of Abbotsford, and the city would have to agree to have the lands removed from its boundaries.

• Today, Grace looks at the complicated process of creating a new reserve, and what the Semá:th First Nation has planned for its potential new properties.

Related

Need to Know

⛑ A six-year-old girl who was lost for 24 hours in Chilliwack said she covered herself with leaves to stay warm while volunteers searched for her [Chilliwack Progress]

🔥 RCMP say there is no evidence of arson in the fire that damaged the derelict Queen of Sidney in Mission [Mission Record]

💸 An Abbotsford pharmacist has been suspended after giving $18,000 in refunds to himself [Abbotsford News]

👉 Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward says the Langley RCMP de-integration is a done deal, but Langley City Mayor Nathan Pachal says the province still needs to sign off on the change [Langley Advance Times]

🚓 Agassiz RCMP are investigating after a man was attacked by two pit bills in Hemlock Valley over the weekend [Fraser Valley Today]

🐶 A Mission man and his dog helped rescue victims of a devastating earthquake in Thailand at the end of March [Mission Record]

🚗 Pay parking is back in Harrison starting today [Agassiz Harrison Observer]

🏘 A potential 75-unit affordable apartment complex in Chilliwack will head to a public hearing next week [Fraser Valley Today]

📫 Another postal strike could begin as soon as next Thursday, as negotiations between Canada Post and the union stall [Global]

📸 CURRENT CAM: Congratulations to Gerry Borden, who was the first person to recognize yesterday’s Current Cam as the confluence of the Coquihalla and Fraser rivers in Hope.

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The Agenda

Agassiz spray park opening delayed to June for repairs

Even outdoor, screen-free fun can suffer from the whims of technology.

Agassiz’s Centennial Spray Park won’t open in May as planned this year. Staff, when preparing to get the park up and running for the summer, found problems with the computer that controls when the park’s water sprayers turn on and off. The controller’s CPU unit had failed, and staff ordered a replacement controller for $16,836. (The chip itself can’t be replaced on its own.) The new part is expected to ship at the end of May.

After consulting with electricians and other spray-park-part manufacturers, district staff said that replacing the part was the only way to get the park running properly again.

If receiving the new part, installing it, running tests, and getting the park inspected by Fraser Health all happen on schedule, the park should open by mid-June.

The District of Kent has said it will share updates on the spray park’s opening on its recreation Facebook page.

— Grace Giesbrecht, Local Journalism Initiative

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🗓 Things to do

Brew party: Brewhalla returns to Fort Langley on Saturday from noon to 6pm. Check out more than 26 craft beer vendors, live music, and more. Tickets online.

Kids wildlife: Elizabeth’s Wildlife Centre comes to the Abbotsford Library on Friday at 2pm. Kids can learn about animals in the community and what they can do if they see an injured animal. Details online.

May Day: Fort Langley celebrates May Day with its 103rd annual parade starting at 11am on Monday, May 19. Enjoy a pancake breakfast at the Lions Hall before the parade, and enjoy a family fun festival in the park afterwards with maypole dancing and a May Queen. Details online.

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