Go west! That’s what tourists and residents in Jasper, Alberta are being told as they head to B.C. to escape the dangers of a growing wildfire. One of the several wildfires burning in the national park is only a dozen kilometres from the Jasper townsite. Meanwhile, crews in the B.C. interior continue to battle dry and often windy conditions as they try to contain several wildfires including the large one near Cache Creek.

Williams Lake has been saved from a wildfire that came close to the Cariboo city. The BC Wildfire Service says that fire is now in the mop-up stage - even though it burned right next to the downtown area. The lake itself was still closed on Monday to allow aircraft to safely scoop up water. Close to 340 fires are burning in the province right now - some were sparked by lightning over the weekend.

The historic B.C. tourist attraction ghost town at Wells-Barkerville is now under wildfire evacuation order. Several fires are burning in that area of the North Cariboo as a cooler weather system brought in some thunderstorms over the weekend. Meanwhile, a small 10 hectare fire broke out near Williams Lake on Sunday and those in the area say it continues to grow. In the Thompson-Nicola, the large Shetland Creek fire-of-note, between Spences Bridge and Cache Creek, has resulted in several temporary closures of Highway One.

Over a hundred people are on evacuation order as the Shetland Creek wildfire continues to grow. That order covers several reserves of the Cook’s Ferry Indian Band. And many small roads leading to Highway One between Spences Bridge and Cache Creek are now closed. The Village of Ashcroft issued an evacuation alert for Ashcroft Ranch late Thursday evening. Meanwhile, Ashcroft Mayor Barbara Roden is slamming the provincial government and its BC Wildfire Service for a lack of communication in responding to the rapidly growing fire. It’s now close to 50 kilometres but area residents have almost no real-time information about its growth.

Slow down - that’s the plea from the RCMP after a series of deadly crashes and high-speed violations in B.C. over the past week. Last week, police clocked a Corvette going 213 km/h on Highway 1 near Langley. In fact, police have issued over 130 excessive speeding tickets including one for a motorcycle rider going over 140 km/h in a 70 km/h zone in Castlegar. At least 19 people died on B.C. roads in the last week.

Two wildfires continue to grow between Lytton and Ashcroft. Both are burning north of Spences Bridge with one reaching at least 300 hectares late Tuesday afternoon. The Cook’s Ferry Indian Band has issued an evacuation order. Gusty wind is expected to hinder efforts to contain the fires.

Crews from both Australia and New Zealand will be arriving in B.C. this week as more wildfires break out around the province. A five kilometre stretch of the east lanes of Highway One, between Chilliwack and Hope, were closed for a while on Monday as fire fighters battled a small fire on the mountain side. The BC Wildfire Service thinks this fire was caused by human activity. A helicopter crew helped those on the ground keep the flames from spreading.

A prominent BC academic is in big trouble following her social media take on Donald Trump’s attempted assassination on Saturday. UBC prof Karen Pinder took to X saying, “Damn, so close. Too bad.” The medical school professor also posted, “What a glorious day this could have been,” before deleting the statements. A UBC statement says the university does not condone violence of any kind and is looking into the matter.

Great views of the city and mountains may soon be disappearing thanks to Vancouver relaxing its view cone policies to increase housing. City council is expected to vote next week on staff recommendations to reduce or eliminate many of the building height restrictions designed to protect views. Staff believe a relaxation could create up to 215 million square feet of housing space. The recommendation could impact about 35 per cent of the protected view cones.

More B.C. families will now qualify for provincial rebates on newly installed heat pumps. The Energy Minister has bumped up the combined-income qualification from $115, 000 to $186,000 saying cooling is absolutely necessary for health and well-being. Homeowners can now apply for up to $5,000 to help cover the installation costs. The costs of installing heat pumps can range up to $20,000.