The wildfire situation is continually evolving, and the information below is current as of 7 p.m. (Pacific time) on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021.Fires:Wildfires burning in B.C.: 209Since April 1, 2021:1,584 wildfires868,604 hectares of area burnedActive fires by fire centre:Cariboo: 25Coastal: 13Kamloops: 59Northwest: 5Prince George: 52Southeast: 55Resources:*Updated weekly and current as of Sept. 2Firefighters and other personnel fighting the fires: 2,522Out-of-province firefighters: 434Helicopters and planes supporting ground crews: 63Evacuations:Evacuation orders: 4 (-1)Evacuation alerts: 14 (-

A new report says costs for a COVID-19 patient treated in intensive care can climb to an estimated $50,000 compared with about $8,400 dollars for someone who's had a heart attack. The Canadian Institute for Health Information report says the cost for a pneumonia patient being in ICU is about eight-thousand dollars.But it says COVID patients remain there for much longer and, on average, their treatment amounts to about $23,000.The report covers data from between January 2020 and March 2021.It says COVID-19 cost Canada's health-care system a billion dollars during that time, but it excludes cost

B.C. is reporting 814 new cases of COVID-19, including 16 epi-linked cases, for a total of 171,564 cases in the province.There are 5,550 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 163,793 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 261 individuals are in hospital and 129 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 24 hours, no new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 1,842.From Aug. 31-Sept. 6, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 77.8% of cases and from Aug. 24-Sept. 6, they accounted for 85.9% of ho

Any plans BC might have for booster shots of COVID-19 vaccine may be on hold until at least next year. The World Health Organization issued a call this morning for a ``moratorium'' on coronavirus booster shots until the end of December. Health Minister Adrian Dix has said B-C is prepared to offer boosters if health officials say they are required and recommended, but the province has not announced any plans for additional shots for those who are already fully vaccinated. Critics of COVID boosters question the ethics of giving more doses to the fully vaccinated when billions of people in devel

Nearly a dozen Vancouver Police officers are recovering after being injured or assaulted during the Labour Day weekend. "Policing is a tough job, and every day our front-line officers put their own safety at risk," says Sergeant Steve Addison. "Unfortunately, we continue to see officers getting hurt while trying to do their jobs and keep others out of harm’s way."Recent incidents of note:A 21-year-old woman was arrested near Knight Street and East 54th Avenue on Monday after a man was stabbed and robbed of his bike. The suspect spat in the face and hair of the arresting officer, who was read

A Metro Vancouver hospital is now the first in BC to use COVID-19 rapid tests on patients needing urgent, unscheduled surgery. Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster is using the 15 minute tests after a trial on more than one-thousand asymptomatic patients earlier this year detected two positive cases of the virus. A statement from Fraser Health says those patients went on to develop COVID-19 while recovering from surgery but were already being treated on a COVID ward protecting staff and other patients. The health authority says a follow up study also found the rapid tests increase the

There are no Americans left competing in the singles events at the US Open tennis tournament, but two Canadians from Quebec are still in contention. 19 year old Leylah Annie Fernandez and 21 year old Felix Auger-Aliassime got deeper into the New York tourney with quarterfinal victories yesterday. Having already knocked out former champs Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber, Fernandez beat fifth-seed Elina Svitolina to get into the semifinals. And Auger-Aliassime won his match after 18 year old Carlos Alcaraz withdrew in the second set due to injury.

B.C.’s maximum allowable rent increase amount for 2022 is being set at 1.5%, based on inflation.This increase cannot take effect prior to Jan. 1, 2022. If landlords choose to increase rent, they must provide a full three months’ notice to tenants using the correct notice of rent increase form.To support British Columbians, the Province enacted a rent freeze at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The freeze has since been extended to Dec. 31, 2021.The 2022 maximum allowable rent increase is significantly less than what it would have been prior to changes made by the Province in 2018 tha

Vancouver police say 17 paddleboarders had to be rescued from heavy wind and waves near the Lions Gate Bridge Monday. They say the paddleboarders tried to cross English Bay just before 3 pm when more than half the group got caught in high winds and a strong current. Police say the incident is an important reminder that the shipping lane in Burrard Inlet can be extremely dangerous due to wind, tides, and heavy boat traffic. They say they also want to remind anyone heading out on the water that human-powered vessels like paddleboards and kayaks are not permitted between Siwash Rock and the Berr