Tuesday, July 11, 2023 | 🌦 High 24C

Good morning!

As I write this there are 322 wildfires burning across the province, 69 of which started in the last 24 hours. The majority of the fires (200) are considered out of control.

On Monday, BC’s Minister of Emergency Management provided an update on the province’s wildfire and drought conditions. You can watch it online here. We also have all the relevant wildfire-related links listed in the Worth Knowing section where you can always view up-to-the-date information. Stay safe!

WORTH KNOWING

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

⚠️ Here’s the current smoke forecast / Check the BC Wildfire Dashboard here

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

NEWS

UFV’s expansion wishlist

The University of the Fraser Valley wants to build a new science building on its Chilliwack campus. That’s the suggested top priority for the university’s new five-year capital plan, though if the building (and others in the document) get built will depend largely on the whims of the provincial government.

• Today, Tyler writes about the university’s latest ambitions to enlarge its campus—if the province provides the necessary funding.

Need to know

🚫 A campfire ban has been issued for all of BC, except for Haida Gwaii [CBC]

🔥 The Davis Lake wildfire north of Mission remains out of control; 58 crew members and one helicopter are responding [BC Wildfire]

🧊 What low-income residents need to know about applying for a government-funded air conditioner [CTV]

🛹 Upgrades to the Aldergrove Skateboard Park are complete [Langley Township/Twitter]

👮🏻 Abbotsford police removed eight “high-risk drivers” from the roads this past weekend [AbbyPoliceDept/Twitter]

🚑 A motorcyclist was struck by a semi-truck on Highway 7 near Agassiz [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

👨🏻‍🚒 Twenty Chilliwack firefighters responded to a house fire on Sunday [Chilliwack Progress]

👟 About 180 players took part in a four-day pickleball tournament in Langley City [Langley Advance Times]

🚒 No injuries were reported after Hope firefighters extinguished a blaze in a detached garage [Hope Standard]

SPONSORED BY CARIBBEAN DAYS FESTIVAL

Caribbean Days Festival is back!

BC’s original Caribbean festival returns for the hottest weekend of the year. Enjoy two full days of tropical rhythms, carnival, cuisine, and culture. All ages, free of charge.

Location: Town Centre Park, Coquitlam (near Skytrain)

• July 29, 10am-8pm-Carnival Parade 1:30pm

• July 30, 11am-7pm

The Agenda

More supportive housing rooms opening in Chilliwack

A supportive housing complex on Yale Road could have more rooms to use soon—but they are at risk of ending up underwater.

The four-storey hotel-turned-supportive-housing is on a floodplain protected by dykes operated by the city north of the property. The building’s ground floor is about three metres below the required flood construction level (the rule that keeps structures above potential floodwaters in the area). As such, it’s “exposed to possible inundation with floodwaters,” a geotechnical report said. The second, third, and fourth floors are above flood levels.

BC Housing asked the City of Chilliwack to make an exception to the rule for the supportive housing complex, so that the bottom floor could be used for housing despite the flood risk. BC Housing promised to absolve the city from any liability of flood damage.

In the case of flooding, occupants would have “lots of time to get out of the way so we’re not putting their lives at risk,” staff told council at the July 4 meeting. Council ultimately voted in favour of granting BC Housing the exemption.

The old Travelodge hotel became supportive housing for unhoused people in 2020, and the building was purchased by BC Housing in 2021. At that point, the organization had already been leasing 44 rooms as temporary housing during the pandemic.

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