Vancouver rundown for Tuesday, July 30, 2024. This week's rain and cooler conditions are
a help, but hundreds of evacuees remain as BC's collection of wildfires continues to grow.
There are about 360 fires burning at the moment, including the two large ones in the Slokan Valley.
A 40 km stretch of Highway 6 along Slokan Lake remain closed on Monday. There are six other
fires of note in the province, including that Shetland Creek wildfire between Cache Creek
and Spence's Bridge. Other news, two people have died in the crash of one of those home-built planes
near Merritt. The crash occurred on a small hillside just north of the airport in Merritt
late Sunday. The bodies of the pilot and a passenger were discovered as soon as first responders
arrived. A marine disaster was avoided during Saturday evening celebration of light fireworks
thanks to a group of volunteers. Those with a branch of the Royal Canadian Marine search and
rescue saved 18 people and a yacht off of West Vancouver. Those on a 48-foot sea-ray sent out
to distress, the Horseshoe Bay-based group was the first on the scene off Passage Island.
The occupants were put safely into other boats and the yacht was towed to harbor.
A man from Burnaby is one of eight people charged in an international scam aimed at
ripping off Amazon by obtaining refunds for items that were never returned. The man is the only
Canadian named in a Seattle-based lawsuit against the International Fraud Organization
called Chinchopa. Amazon has not specified how much money it's seeking from those in the
sophisticated rip-off scheme. Clouds in a few showers on Tuesday, sunshine returns on Wednesday,
and it starts to warm up toward the end of the week under Sunday skies, inland highs of about 30
degrees. For all the details on these Vancouver area stories along with the links, go to
vancouverrondown.substack.com