Vancouver rundown for Thursday, July 18, 2024. Slow down! That is the plea from the RCMP
after a series of deadly crashes and high-speed violations in the province over the past week.
Last week, police clocked the Corvette going 213 km an hour on Highway 1 near Langley. In fact,
police have issued over 130 excessive speeding tickets, including one for a motorcycle rider
going over 140 km in a 70-zone near Castlegar. At least 19 people have died on BC roads in the
past week. Other news, an entire fleet of commercial trucks operated by a Fraser Valley company
has been pulled off the road after one rig hit an overpass last Tuesday. The transportation
ministry has temporarily grounded SGD Transport's fleet after a truck hit the rail overpass on Highway
1 in Langley. That incident is still being investigated. A stretch of Highway 97 near
Peachland had to be closed Wednesday morning. As crews moved in to fight a new wildfire,
air and ground crews have been able to keep the blaze from spreading. Smoke can be seen right
across Okanagan Lake. The small fire is suspected to be human-caused. Final preparations? Well,
they're underway ahead of the first night of this year's Celebration of Light fireworks
competition in English Bay. The fireworks festival starts with Portugal on Saturday night,
followed by Malaysia on Wednesday, and then the United Kingdom on Saturday, July 27. Once again,
most of the roads around English Bay, including Kitt's Point, will be closed well ahead of the
show's start time as thousands are expected to take in the competition. A few clouds are expected
as the sunny dry weather continues right across the lower mainland. Inland highs will be around
27 degrees, more sunshine expected for Friday and the weekend, and highs will be about 30 degrees
by Saturday. For all the details on these Vancouver area stories, along with the links, go to
vancouverrundown.substack.com.