Fire chiefs say the fight against devastating wildfires that have been rampaging around Lake Okanagan, B.C., has turned a corner after days of destruction.
West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund said “things are finally looking better,” with an army of 500 firefighters engaged in a battle that is now in a new phase.
He told a news briefing Sunday that no more homes in West Kelowna had been destroyed by the McDougall Creek wildfire in the past 24 hours and it was possible to begin to “talk about recovery.”
Kelowna fire chief Travis Whiting told the briefing he was also “very excited” about the advances being made, with his crews optimistic and in good spirits.
He said there had been decreased fire activity, compared to the extreme behaviour of fires in recent days as they tore through neighbourhoods and destroyed homes in both West Kelowna and Kelowna, on either side of the lake.
The positive developments in the Central Okanagan come amid a desperate battle against hundreds of fires across the province, with 30,000 people under evacuation orders and a provincial state of emergency in effect.
“It’s a day when we can take a deep breath” and focus on strategy, said Whiting.
Brolund said he was “finally feeling like we’re moving forward, rather than moving backwards.”
“And that’s a great feeling for all of us to have,” he said. “In saying that, make no mistake, there will be difficult days ahead.”
Lake Country fire chief Darren Lee became emotional as he paid tribute to the firefighters, some of whom had fought to save their own communities from destruction.
“I just want to congratulate all our firefighters. You know, for thousands of years, just regular people step up to to be warriors to protect their villages, protect their neighbours, there’s people out there working 36, 48-hour shifts, and they take an absolute beating,” Lee said, choking up.
“They know their family’s being evacuated while they’re trying to defend their neighbour’s home and they just keep going.”
On Sunday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted on social media that the federal government is deploying military assets to B.C. and will be helping with evacuations, staging and other logistical tasks.
Speaking in Charlottetown, he said the fire situation in B.C. and the Northwest Territories is “extraordinarily serious.”
“(Canadians have) stepped up, have shown who they truly are, as people are there for each other, welcoming friends, neighbours, strangers, into their homes, into their communities, to support them.”
B.C.’s fire fight continued on multiple fronts Sunday, but no new evacuation orders were added overnight to those already in place, covering thousands of properties across the province.
B.C. Premier David Eby said Saturday the situation was “grim” as he announced an emergency travel ban to fire zones to free up accommodation for evacuees and fire crews.
The province’s last new evacuation order was issued at 1:33 p.m. Saturday for residents of the tiny lakeside community of Sorrento on Highway 1, due to the Lower East Adams Lake fire complex that has caused extensive regional destruction in the Columbia Shuswap in the southern Interior.
In Central Okanagan to the south, no new orders have been issued since 9:18 p.m. Friday.
Most of the province’s evacuees are from the central Okanagan. Whiting said Saturday that about 10,700 properties were evacuated in the region, with a further 9,500 on evacuation alert.
There has been no known loss of life in the Central Okanagan, while the number of properties destroyed has yet to be tallied.
About 36,000 people are subject to evacuation alerts across B.C., warned to be ready to leave their homes at a moment’s notice, the government said.
A woman carries a young boy outside an evacuation centre for those forced from their homes due to wildfires, in Kelowna, B.C., Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Some evacuation orders are being lifted. Residents of several RV parks in the Okanagan on Highway 3 that had been threatened by two fires are being allowed back, although they remain subject to evacuation alerts.
Kelowna’s Prospera Place arena, home to the Kelowna Rockets hockey team, is now the temporary home for many displaced from their homes.
Volunteers mixed with evacuees at the facility on Saturday afternoon, filling plates from tables of food.
Jason Bedell, the emergency support services supervisor for the Kelowna Fire Department, said they’re seeing “monumental evacuee needs.”
But they are also facing the “unique problem” of being inundated with donations of perishable food from individuals.
“What we are asking is if people are willing and able to donate, please look to your make local food banks or your non-profits, he said.
“If there are commercial kitchens that are looking to do food, they can come to Prospera and meet with a staff member, get on a schedule that we’re creating as we’re finding all the foods coming at once and we don’t want to waste anything.”
With other neighbouring communities dealing with their own fire issues, Bedell said co-ordination has been a challenge, but he called the flood of donations a “testament to the community’s spirit.”
“What we’re missing out on right now is trained volunteers,” he said.
“But we’re working diligently with our partners at the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, who’s providing us with additional resources.
“We are pulling out all stops to make sure we have what we need.”
Curt Derkson sprays water on hot spots near a house in Celista, British Columbia, Canada, on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
To the north, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District said firefighters have been “working tirelessly” in the battle against the Lower East Adams Lake fire complex, which has forced the evacuation of more than 3,000 properties.
The merged fire complex has officially been designated the Bush Creek East fire and the BC Wildfire Service said the combined fire is more than 410 square kilometres.
District officials confirmed Saturday there were structural losses due to the explosive growth of the fire, which the BC Wildfire services said raced more than 20 kilometres in about half a day.
John MacLean with the Columbia Shuswap Regional District said no lives have been lost.
Firefighting officials have said cooler and calmer conditions Saturday helped crews battle the fires in the southern Interior, but they are expecting difficult days ahead as conditions warm up again Sunday.
B.C. officials have restricted travel for the purpose of staying in temporary accommodations such as hotels and campgrounds in several communities in the Okanagan.
Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma has said those accommodations are no longer available for anything other than essential travel so the rooms can be available for firefighters and evacuees.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Eby discussed the wildfire situation Saturday. Trudeau’s office said the prime minister promised to provide all necessary aid from the federal government.
The BC Wildfire Service lists more than 380 active wildfires burning in the province, including 14 that are considered “of note,” meaning they are highly visible or threatening public safety.
The 100-square-kilometre Kookipi Creek fire has forced evacuation orders or alerts in multiple communities in recent days, including the Village of Lytton, that was almost destroyed by wildfires in 2021.
The fire, which has been burning for six weeks but erupted in size recently, forced the closure of Highway 1 on Sunday for about 105 kilometres between Hope and Lytton.
— With files from Brieanna Charlebois and Ashley Joannou in Vancouver and CHNL. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2023.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Victor Hedman as the team captain on Wednesday as training camp opened, making the big defenseman the successor to Steven Stamkos.
Hedman, who is going into his 16th season with Tampa Bay, was considered the obvious choice to get the “C” after the Lightning did not re-sign Stamkos and their longtime captain left to join Nashville.
“Victor is a cornerstone player that is extremely well respected by his teammates, coaches and peers across the NHL,” general manager Julien BriseBois said. “Over the past 15 seasons, he has been a world-class representative for our organization both on and off the ice. Victor embodies what it means to be a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning and is more than ready for this exciting opportunity. We are looking forward to watching him flourish in his new role as we continue to work towards our goal of winning the Stanley Cup.”
The 33-year-old from Sweden was a key contributor in the Lightning hoisting the Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21, including playoff MVP honors on the first of those championship runs. Hedman also took home the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 2018 and finished in the top three in voting five other seasons.
Ryan McDonagh, who was reacquired early in the offseason in a trade with the Predators, and MVP finalist Nikita Kucherov will serve as alternate captains with the Lightning moving on to the post-Stamkos era.
TORONTO – While Toronto FC is looking to improve its position on the pitch, general manager Jason Hernandez is trying to do the same off it.
That has been easier said than done this season.
Sending winger Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to CF Montreal for up to $1.3 million (all dollar figures in U.S. funds) in general allocation money before the secondary transfer window closed in early August helped set the stage for future moves.
But there have been plenty of obstacles, which Hernandez has been working to clear.
“We feel a lot more confident going into this upcoming off-season that we did the one prior,” said Hernandez. “There’s a level of what I would say booby-traps that were uncovered when I first got the (GM) role at the end of last summer.”
The club is paying off departed forwards Adam Diomande and Ayo Akinola as well as a $500,000 payment due in 2024 to Belgium’s Anderlecht for Jamaican international defender Kemar Lawrence. That payment was part of the transfer fee for Lawrence, who joined TFC from Anderlecht in May 2021 and was traded to Minnesota United in March 2022.
Diomande was waived while Akinola’s contract was terminated by mutual agreement.
“That comes to an end in ’25, which is nice,” said Hernandez. “We had to suffer from a salary cap perspective this season. But those things coming off, the Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty money coming in, we’re going to be in a position to make some good additions, which is positive.”
While MLS clubs are allowed one contract buyout per year, Toronto had already used its on former captain Michel Bradley, who retired after last season. Bradley had previously restructured his contract, deferring money.
TFC’s only other move during the summer transfer window was the signing of free-agent defender Henry Wingo. Hernandez said the club knew going into the window that it was likely limited to the one acquisition “unless other business happened”
“We knew we had this bucket of money and we knew we were going to go get Henry,” said Hernandez.
While the sale of the highly touted Marshall-Rutty opened up other possibilities, it came on the eve of the transfer window closing. And the team did not like what it saw in the free-agent market.
“A lot of the opportunities we were presented in the free agency space felt more like a short-term, Band-Aid decision versus what actually the club probably needs.”
Hernandez was not willing to take in players who came with a “club-friendly” salary cap charge in 2024 and a much bigger number in 2025.
Instead, Toronto promoted forward Charlie Sharp and wingback Nate Edwards to the first team from TFC 2 ahead of last Friday’s roster freeze.
MLS teams are operating on a salary budget of $5.47 million this season, which covers up to 20 players on the senior roster (clubs can elect to spread that number across 18 players). But the league has several mechanisms that allow those funds to go further, including using allocation money (both general and targeted) to buy down salaries.
Designated players only count $683,750 — the maximum salary charge — against the cap no matter their actual pay. Toronto’s Lorenzo Insigne is actually earning $15.4 million with fellow Italian Federico Bernardeschi collecting $6.295 million and Canadian Richie Laryea $1.208 million.
Hernandez says Laryea’s contract can — and “very likely” will — be restructured so as to remove the designated player status.
There are benefits in going with just two designated players rather than three.
Teams that elect to go with two DPs can sign up to four players as part of the league’s “U22 Initiative.” The pluses of that structure include a reduced salary cap charge for the young players and up to an extra $2 million in general allocation money.
Hernandez says the club is currently pondering whether that is the way to go.
Captain Jonathan Osorio who is earning $836,370 this season, restructured his deal to allow the team to sign Laryea as a DP. In doing so, Osorio had his option year guaranteed so his contact runs through 2026.
Hernandez and coach John Herdman will have decisions to make come the end of the year.
The contracts of goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh ($94,200), defenders Kevin Long ($277,500), Shane O’Neill ($413,000) and Kobe Franklin ($100,520), midfielder Alonso Coello ($94,050) and Brandon Servania ($602,710), and forward Prince Owusu ($807,500) — all on the club’s senior roster — expire at the end of 2024 with club options to follow.
While there is more work to do, Hernandez believes TFC is on the right road.
Toronto, which finished last in the league at 4-20-10 in 2023, went into Wednesday’s game against visiting Columbus in a playoff position at eighth in the East at 11-15-3.
“By every metric, we are miles ahead of where we were at this point last year,” said Hernandez.
“That’s a low bar, so that’s not saying much,” he added.
But he believes TFC is “quite competitive” when it has all its players at its disposal.
“To get results in this final stretch, we’re going to need our prominent players to really show up and have big performances, and be supported by the rest of the cast.”
After Columbus, TFC plays at Colorado and Chicago and hosts the New York Red Bulls and Inter Miami. The club also travels to Vancouver for the Canadian Championship final.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024
Mackenzie Hughes might just be what the International team needs as this year’s Presidents Cup.
Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., is one of three Canadians on the squad competing in the match-play event at Royal Montreal Golf Club next week.
His putting skills, cool demeanour under pressure, pre-existing connections with teammates and clubhouse leadership could help the team — made up of non-American players outside Europe — end a nine-tournament losing skid to the United States at the biennial event.
“I’ve had this one circled on the calendar for a few years now,” said Hughes on joining fellow Canadians Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners as captain’s picks on the 12-player International team. “I pretty much knew that when it was announced the tournament would be in Canada and that Mike Weir was going to be the captain, you pretty much knew where that was going to go.
“To get that call from (Weir) is really special because he’s the guy that I looked up to, we all looked up to, as Canadian golfers.”
Pendrith and Conners are returning to the team after a disappointing 17 1/2 to 12 1/2 loss to the United States at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. in 2022.
Hughes was ranked 14th on the International team standings in 2022 and could have easily been included on that squad after Australia’s Cameron Smith and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann were ruled ineligible after jumping ship to the rival LIV Golf circuit.
However, captain Trevor Immelman of South Africa instead chose the lower ranked Christiaan Bezuidenhout (16th) of South Africa, Pendrith (18th), South Korea’s Kim Si-woo (20th) and Australia’s Cameron Davis (25th).
“I certainly wanted to be on that team but also I understood the picks,” said Hughes, who lives in Charlotte and plays at Quail Hollow regularly. “I think that like a lot of guys that don’t get picked you more so look back on your own play and I wish I had made that selection easier for them.
“I didn’t do myself any favours in the six weeks leading up to it and that’s a hard pill to swallow.”
It may have been a costly oversight on Immelman’s part, as finishing holes was an issue for the International team in 2022 and Hughes is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour. This season he’s third in shots gained around the green and fifth in shots gained from putting.
“It doesn’t mean that just because I was there it would have turned the tide, but I’d like to think maybe I could have helped,” said Hughes. “That’s why you play the matches. You have to get out there and do it.”
This year Hughes made it easier for Weir, the Canadian golf legend from Brights Grove, Ont., to choose him. Hughes is 51st in the FedEx Cup Fall standings and has made the cut seven tournaments in a row, including a tie for fourth at last week’s Procore Championship.
“Mac played very solidly all year. Really like his short game, an all-around short game,” said Weir on Sept. 3 after announcing his captain’s picks. “He’s one of the elite and best short game guys on the PGA Tour
“I also love Mac’s grit. So that was the reason I picked him.”
Hughes’s intangible qualities go beyond grit.
He, Pendrith and Conners will arrive at Royal Montreal as a unit within the International squad, having become close friends while playing on Kent State University’s men’s golf team before turning pro. They’re also part of a group of Canadians, including Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., that regularly practice together before PGA Tour events.
“To have those guys with me is really icing on the cake, it’s very special,” said Hughes. “Opportunities like this don’t come around very often: to play this kind of team competition, which is already hard to do, but to play with some of your best friends, it almost seems scripted.”
An 11-year professional, Hughes has also been a member of the PGA Tour’s player advisory council the past two years and has been an outspoken advocate for making professional golf more accessible to fans.
Although Weir relied heavily on analytics to make his captain’s selections, Hughes’s character came up again and again when asked why he was named to the team.
“I just have a gut feeling with Mac that he has what it takes in these big moments,” said Weir. “They’re big pressure moments, and I have a feeling he’s going to do great in those moments.”
DP WORLD TOUR — Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., continues his chase for a spot in the Europe-based DP World Tour’s playoffs. The top 50 players on the Race to Dubai standings make the DP World Tour Championship and Cockerill moved eight spots up to 39th in the rankings after tying for ninth at last week’s Irish Open. He’ll be back at it on Thursday at the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England.
KORN FERRY TOUR — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is ranked 38th on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour’s points list. He leads the Canadian contingent into this week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. He’ll be joined at Ohio State University Golf Club — Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio by Edmonton’s Wil Bateman (53rd), Etienne Papineau (65th) of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., and Sudarshan Yellamaraju (99th) of Mississauga, Ont.
CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames is the lone Canadian at this week’s Pure Insurance Championship. He’s No. 2 on the senior circuit’s points list. The event will start Friday and be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course in Monterey, Calif.
LPGA TOUR — There are four Canadians in this week’s Kroger City Championship. Savannah Grewal (97th in the Race to CME Globe Rankings) of Mississauga, Ont., Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (115th), and Maude-Aimee Leblanc (142nd) of Sherbrooke, Que., will all tee it up at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio.
EPSON TOUR — Vancouver’s Leah John is the low Canadian heading into the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout. She’s 54th in the second-tier tour’s points list. She’ll be joined by Maddie Szeryk (118th) of London, Ont., and Brigitte Thibault (119th) of Rosemere, Que., at Mystic Creek Golf Club in El Dorado, Ark.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
