The Public Safety Ministry is warning about the risk of holiday-related fires from festive lights and other items that may be kept close to heat sources. It says the Office of the Fire Commissioner reports 113 Christmas-related fires in BC in the last decade.These fires have caused multiple injuries, four deaths and 14.5 million dollars in damage. Jennifer Rice, the parliamentary secretary for Emergency Preparedness, says most of the fires over the holiday season are caused by decorative lights being left on, used improperly or being faulty. She says the fire commissioner also had reports of

RCMP have issued a 2,300 dollar fine to the organizer of a protest in Kelowna against COVID-19 restrictions. Police say the march through the city's downtown drew several hundred people on Saturday. Mounties are not releasing the name of the self-identified protest leader at this time. Police say officers attended the event to maintain the peace and help prevent any confrontations between demonstrators and others when the fine was issued.

Provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix are expected to provide more details today about the limited availability of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine starting this week. Dr. Henry has said staff at long-term care facilities and front-line health-care workers in hospitals are first in line for the vaccine at two locations, one in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and the other in Fraser Health. The Public Health Agency of Canada said some of the 30,000 initial doses of the vaccine were expected to touch down last night at 14 distribution centres in all 10 prov

BC has recorded 737 cases of COVID-19 today and another community outbreak. A joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix says 11 more people have died, while 342 people are in hospital. The number of actives cases climbed slightly to 9,589 in the province. That includes 87 patients in intensive care. At least 30 people have tested positive after an outbreak at the Regent Christian Academy and the private school has been closed until after the winter break. There are over 12,000 people under active public health monitoring because they were e

Abbotsford police are investigating a case of forcible confinement and aggravated assault. Police say it started when with reports of a bloodied man with his hands tied running from a house. The man was found a short distance away suffering from serious injuries, but police say they aren't believed to be life-threatening. The male was transported by BC Ambulance Service and is receiving medical treatment. AbbyPD patrol officers were called to the 2300 block of Clearbrook Road for reports of man fleeing from a house with his hands tied and covered with blood. When police went into the home lat

North Shore Search and Rescue has been approved for a pilot project using a night-vision imaging system to allow for extended searches in low light and night conditions. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says the project is the first of its kind in Canada for a volunteer search group. The group will use helicopter night-vision goggles, helping with aerial searches and transportation in low-light or night-time operations. Up until now, the technology has been restricted to official organizations such as police or military.

Fraser Health has declared the COVID-19 outbreak at the Burnaby Hospital over after more than 100 patients and staff contracted the virus. The authority said last week that 10 people connected to the outbreak died. However, Fraser Health has declared an outbreak at the Regent Christian Academy after 30 positive cases were identified at the private school. It says the school will be closing and switching to remote learning until December 18th, when it would have closed for the winter break.

British Columbia's attorney general says he's heartened that his federal counterpart has pledged to assist in improving Ottawa's responses at the public inquiry into money laundering in the province. David Eby says he called Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to discuss concerns raised by inquiry commissioner Austin Cullen in a report released yesterday. Cullen says Canada's financial intelligence agency, Fintrac, was slow to comply with obligations to provide documents relevant to the inquiry. Eby says Blair told him Ottawa will soon announce changes in federal policing related to dirty money

New research from the University of Victoria says alcohol consumption has increased in BC during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers found a 40 per cent jump in alcohol sales in mid-March when COVID-19 measures were put in place. Consumption in bars and restaurants, which historically account for around 15 per cent of alcohol consumed in BC, dropped off in April and May. Researchers say private liquor stores benefited from the increase in purchases.