Firefighters and number crunchers are joining forces in a bid to prevent house fires, reduce injuries and save lives. BC's fire commissioner, Brian Godlonton, says his office and Statistics Canada will work together to create a dashboard that identifies areas in communities that are at greatest risk of house fires. Godlonton says an increasing number of fire deaths is a ``concerning trend'' across BC and Canada and the dashboard will help fire officials know where to focus their prevention and safety programs. The fire commissioner's annual report shows a 119 per cent increase in fire-related

Amada Todd's mother has told the B.C. Supreme Court that her daughter let out "a shriek" before running downstairs to show her a Facebook profile using a topless photo of the Port Coquitlam teenager as its main image. Carol Todd testified Tuesday on the second day of the trial of Aydin Coban, a Dutch man who prosecutors say waged a campaign of "sextortion" against the teenager, who died in October 2012.Coban has pleaded not guilty to extortion, harassment, communication with a young person to commit a sexual offence and two counts of possessing child pornography.Todd told the jury trial that s

A former counsellor at a private school in West Vancouver has been sentenced to four months in jail and 18 months of probation after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. 54 year old Luke Lawson was fired from Mulgrave School following his arrest in September 2020 after police found dozens of printed photos of nude girls aged eight to 13 years old inside his apartment. His lawyers had argued for a conditional discharge while the Crown had been seeking a six-month sentence. The judge ruled Lawson had suffered greatly for the offence but agreed jail time was appropriate because he

Police have identified two men who were found shot to death in a Richmond parkade last weekend. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the bodies of 23 year old Kevin Allaraj and 22 year old Jeevan Saepan were found by RCMP officers responding to reports of shots fired at about 11:30 am on Saturday. IHIT says the victims were from the Lower Mainland and known to police. It adds initial information indicates the shooting was a targeted incident connected to gang activities.

A death-panel report from the BC Coroners Service makes several recommendations in response to the 619 heat-related deaths recorded last year as temperatures in parts of BC climbed above 40 degrees for more than a week. The report says government and social agencies responded too slowly after the weather office issued heat warnings as temperatures soared at the end of June. It says a heat-alert system is needed and the province has already announced plans for a two-step alert process that will release heat warnings in the same way Amber Alerts or tsunami warnings are issued now. The report al

The River Forecast Centre has lifted high streamflow advisories across southern BC as the risk of spring flooding drops, but it is maintaining flood watches for several river systems in northwestern and northeastern BC. Flood watches remain in effect for a section of the Dean River on the central coast east of Bella Coola and for sections of the Skeena River near Terrace, the Bulkley River around Smithers and the Liard River and its tributaries in northeastern BC. High streamflow advisories are also maintained for many rivers and streams across the extreme northwest corner of BC. In the Terra

The man who rolled a Dodge Durango on a Burnaby street, then left his severely injured passenger inside, has been handed a two-year jail term. Burnaby RCMP say charges were approved less than a year after the June 2020 crash. Police in Laval, Quebec identified 33 year old Moussa Daoui and worked with police in this province to return him to BC to face charges. RCMP say Daoui pleaded guilty on May 30th to criminal negligence causing bodily harm and he has been sentenced to the two year term.

Metro Vancouver police are reporting a resurgence of a phone scam that has snared several local seniors. Linda Annis, executive director of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers, says police are investigating 20 known cases recently and want to stop seniors from becoming victims. Typically, someone calls a senior and claims a grandchild or family member is being held in custody and a large amount of cash is needed to get the person released. Annis says they're urging anyone who has information about the scam to call Crime Stoppers anonymously.

British Columbia is introducing a two-tiered heat alert and response system to help people and communities stay safe this summer when temperatures rise.Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says during periods of extreme heat emergencies, the government is prepared to issue alerts through the national Alert Ready system, which is already used to issue Amber Alerts and tsunami, wildfire and flood warnings.Temperatures surpassed 40 C for days in last summer's so-called heat dome in B.C., resulting in almost 600 heat-related deaths, most of them elderly and vulnerable people living in buildings w