An Israeli strike in Beirut kills Hezbollah’s spokesman, while a strike in Gaza kills at least 30

WEST MILFORD, N.J. – Firefighters in New York said Sunday that a successful voluntary evacuation overnight helped them protect about 165 homes from a wildfire near the New Jersey border.

However, New York City’s fire department has taken the first-of-its-kind step of creating a brush fire task force to respond to what officials are calling a historic increase in brush fires occurring throughout the five boroughs, the FDNY commissioner announced. From Nov. 1 to Nov. 14, the FDNY responded to 271 brush fires across the city, marking the highest two-week period in New York’s history.

“Due to a significant lack of rainfall, the threat of fast-spreading brush fires fueled by dry vegetation and windy conditions have resulted in an historic increase of brush fires throughout New York City,” Commissioner Robert S. Tucker said in a statement.

Windy conditions renewed a wildfire Saturday that escaped a containment line and prompted emergency officials to enact a voluntary evacuation plan for a community near the border.

The evacuation enacted out of “an abundance of caution” impacted about 165 houses in Warwick, New York, as firefighters continued working to tame the Jennings Creek blaze, New York Parks Department spokesman Jeff Wernick said in an email Saturday night.

Firefighters’ efforts were successful and no structures were in danger as of early Sunday afternoon, Wernick said in a later email. The voluntary evacuation will remain in place at least until Monday, allowing firefighters to continue their work.

The evacuation came as communities in the Northeast and around the country dealt with a surge in late fall fires.

New England states were under red flag alerts for wildfires this weekend. The National Interagency Fire Center said fires in California, North Carolina and West Virginia were also concerning.

The New York City task force will be made up of fire marshals, fire inspectors, and tactical drone units in an effort to ensure rapid responses to brush fires and to help with investigations to determine their cause.

On Friday, the wildfire was 90% contained on the Passaic County, New Jersey, side of the border, and about 70% contained in Orange County, New York, officials said. New York increased the state’s percentage to 88% on Sunday morning.

The wildfire had burned 7 1/2 square miles (19.4 square kilometers) across the two states as of Friday, On Saturday, Wernick said New York Army National Guard helicopters dropped 21,000 gallons (79,493 liters) of water and a New York State Police helicopter dropped nearly 900 gallons (3,406 liters).

The fire was burning primarily in Sterling Forest State Park, where the visitor center, the lakefront area at Greenwood Lake and historic furnace area remained open but woodland activities including hunting were halted, Wernick said.

The blaze claimed the life of an 18-year-old New York parks employee who died when a tree fell on him as he helped fight the fire in Sterling Forest on Nov. 9. The fire’s cause remains under investigation.

In Massachusetts, which typically has about 15 wildland fires every October, there were about 200 this year. State officials said they were expected to continue because of weather conditions and dry surface fuels.

The National Weather Service in Boston warned Sunday that elevated fire risk continued across southern New England, given the continued gusty winds and dry conditions. Much-needed rain was predicted for Thursday in the region.

Southern New Hampshire was also at risk for fires due to dry conditions and the fire danger risk was “very high,” state officials said.

The Maine Forest Service said the southern part of the state also faced high fire danger conditions. Most of the state was abnormally dry or facing moderate drought conditions.

Some relief could be in sight in New York. The National Weather Service in Albany, New York, said Sunday that most of the region could see a “widespread soaking rain” of 0.5 to 1.5 inches beginning Wednesday night.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government could have acted faster on reining in immigration programs, after blaming “bad actors” for gaming the system.

Trudeau released a nearly seven-minute video on YouTube Sunday talking about the recent reduction in permanent residents being admitted to Canada and changes to the temporary foreign worker program.

Over the next two years, the permanent residency stream is being reduced by about 20 per cent to 365,000 in 2027.

In the video, Trudeau talks about the need to increase immigration after pandemic lockdowns ended in order to boost the labour market, saying the move helped avoid a full-blown recession.

But after that, Trudeau says some “bad actors” took advantage of these programs, such as employers trying to avoid hiring Canadians, schools recruiting more international students for the higher tuition money, or scams promising bogus paths to citizenship.

Trudeau says that he and his team could have acted quicker once it became apparent businesses didn’t need the added labour help anymore.

Trudeau says the goal of the government’s immigration reduction is to help stabilize population growth while housing stocks catch up, and then to consider gradually increasing immigration rates once again.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

VANCOUVER – Some B.C. charities and not-for-profits say they are worried the Canada Post strike will jeopardize their year-end fundraising efforts.

Nicole Mucci, a spokeswoman for Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, says 50 per cent of the organization’s revenue normally comes between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and a mail strike at this time of the year is “detrimental” since so many donations come in the mail.

Mucci says the Mission supports the postal workers’ fight and hopes there will be a resolution soon, and in the meantime they are exploring other ways to connect with donors.

Workers at Canada Post went on strike Friday after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with their employer.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says approximately 55,000 workers are striking, claiming little progress has been made in the bargaining process.

Gregory Ould, co-founder of Vancouver-based charity Blanket BC Society, says his organization counts on large donations through the mail from a Canadian mattress company to help people in the winter, and he’s worried the strike will affect the families, refugees and homeless people the organization serves.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.