What’s making news in British Columbia

Downtown Vancouver (Photo courtesy of Bobanny via Wikipedia)

One dead as windstorm hits South East B.C.

A falling tree has killed one person in Port Moody.

Coroner Barb McLintock says the coroner in the Vancouver suburb was alerted to the death Thursday morning as winds gusted to more than 90 kilometres per hour.

BC Hydro says tens of thousands of customers were without power late Thursday morning.

Problems linked to the storm include more than a dozen school cancellations in Surrey and the Fraser Valley, flooding in low-lying areas of Delta, and delays or cancellations of BC Ferry sailings.

Investigation into mill fire

WorkSafe BC investigators were investigating after an explosion and fire that damaged a forest products mill in Quesnel.

The fire happened around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the WestPine MDF mill, but the eight people on shift were not hurt.

Quesnel’s mayor said the blast and resulting fire occurred on the side of the mill where raw materials, such as sawdust, are fed into the building for the production of medium density fibreboard.

About 100 people work at the operation, owned by West Fraser Mills, and there was no word when the plant will reopen.

Higher fines coming in wildfire act

The province wants to impose higher fines for ignoring wildfire restrictions.

A bill has been introduced in the legislature, hiking fines for offences, such as failing to comply with provisions of the Wildfire Act.

Amendments to the law would set a $1,150 fine for failing to comply with a fire restriction, which is more than three times greater than the current $345 fine.

The bill also clarifies what it means to interfere with firefighting efforts, and notes penalties can be applied even if interference is unintentional.

Driver killed in hit-and-run

RCMP in Burnaby are searching for a female driver and her male passenger who they say fled from a Range Rover after a crash that killed a driver.

Mounties say the suspects, who were likely injured in the Thursday morning hit-and-run at Willingdon Avenue and Deer Lake Parkway, ran off after speeding through a red light and slamming into the side of a smaller car.

A 25-year-old woman in the car died at the scene.

Investigators are urging the driver and passenger of the Range Rover to come forward.

Technical snag leads to slower check-ins at airport

Technical issues slowed down check-ins at Vancouver International Airport on Thursday.

Staff at the airport say passengers were checked in manually, which caused delays.

Officials say the problem is not related to a wind storm whipping across the south coast.