A commercial truck carrying butane canisters caught fire near Lougheed Mall and the SkyTrain station in Burnaby on Wednesday evening, triggering a series of explosions that sent the canisters flying through the air. The incident happened at around 7:10 p.m. in the parking lot of an auto repair shop near Gatineau Place and North Road. Burnaby Fire Department Deputy Chief Ian Hetherington said crews arrived to find a commercial cube van fully engulfed in flames, with thick smoke and flames rising above the nearby SkyTrain tracks. Several canisters were found scattered along North Road following

A motorcyclist has suffered life-threatening injuries following a collision with an SUV at the intersection of George Ferguson Way and Gladys Avenue in Abbotsford. According to police, the crash happened at around 4 p.m. Wednesday. The motorcyclist was taken to hospital in critical condition and is currently fighting for their life. The SUV driver was not physically injured and is cooperating fully with investigators. Police have not yet determined the cause of the crash. Investigators are asking anyone with dashcam footage related to the collision to contact the Abbotsford Police Department.

A debate featuring four candidates contesting the upcoming Abbotsford-Mission byelection concluded Wednesday night. The event, hosted by the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, featured NDP candidate Pam Alexis, B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, CentreBC candidate Lakhwinder Kaur Jhajj and Green Party candidate Stephen Fowler. Transportation, affordability and taxation were among the key issues discussed. On the ongoing traffic problems along Highway 11, Jhajj advocated for expanding the highway to improve traffic flow. Findlay criticized the governing government’s policies on agricu

Quesnel RCMP arrested four people, including two teenage girls, after a stolen white Ford F-350 truck rammed into police vehicles in the B.C. Interior early Thursday morning. Police found the truck parked in Quesnel around 5 a.m. The vehicle had reportedly been stolen from the Hixon area, about 60 kilometres away, several hours earlier. When officers attempted to apprehend the occupants, the driver allegedly tried to flee and rammed the truck into police vehicles. Three police vehicles were damaged, but no injuries were reported. A 31-year-old man who was driving the truck, a 29-year-old woman

A 70-year-old man has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison after being convicted of sexually interfering with his granddaughter in Prince George, B.C. The sentence was handed down by the B.C. Supreme Court in Prince George last week. The offence occurred between 2016 and 2021, when the victim was between six and 11 years old. The court heard that the abuse had a severe and lasting impact on the girl’s mental and emotional well-being, making it extremely difficult for her to attend school for years. The judge said the accused’s age and health were taken into consideration, but

Two men facing a jury trial in connection with the daylight shooting deaths of Maninder Dhaliwal and Satinder Gill outside the Sundial Hotel in Whistler Village in July 2022 have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. The accused, 28-year-old Gursimran Sahota and 24-year-old Tanveer Khakh, are on trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. Prosecutors say 21 shell casings recovered from the scene matched two handguns found inside a Honda CR-V that was later set on fire in a nearby area. The Crown's case relies heavily on forensic evidence. A forensic examiner testified that possible

Major organizations representing British Columbia’s forestry sector have written to Premier David Eby, calling for immediate action to address the growing crisis in the province’s forest industry. The BC Council of Forest Industries, BC Wood and the United Steelworkers jointly sent a letter to the provincial government this month, urging Premier Eby to establish a Forestry Crisis Action Group under his leadership. The groups said B.C.’s forestry sector is at a critical crossroads. While acknowledging that international trade pressures are beyond the direct control of the provincial gover

An 85-year-old man was killed after being struck by a stray bullet inside his apartment in Burnaby. According to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), the body of Chang Yong Cho was found on Aug. 30 inside his apartment in the 7400 block of Kingsway. Police had received reports of a shooting in a nearby block at around 1:30 a.m. Later that day, at approximately 4 p.m., Burnaby RCMP received a call requesting a welfare check at the apartment, where Cho was found dead from a gunshot wound. Investigators said shots were fired during a dispute between a group of young people. One of t

Suraj Uppal, a school board candidate with the One Delta party in the upcoming Delta municipal election, has withdrawn his candidacy. In a statement posted on social media, Uppal said that sometimes stepping back is the best way to move forward and announced that he was leaving the race for school trustee. Uppal did not provide a specific reason for his decision. However, according to local media reports, several posts had appeared on his social media page last week that were described by some local residents as objectionable. It is being speculated that the controversy surrounding those posts