Calls mount for a federal firefighting force
With out-of-control wildfires burning across the country, pressure is mounting on Ottawa to set up a national firefighting agency.
News
Published by Observer Media Group
‘Where are they?’ With government aid spotty, locals funnel supplies to Maui fire survivors
Across Maui, community hubs like these have cropped up with dizzying speed in the days since wildfires swept through the island on Aug. 8, killing at least 99, destroying more than 2,200 buildings and displacing thousands.
Wheatley residents displaced by gas explosion say Ontario funding won’t help them
Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government announced more than $11 million in new funding Wednesday to help pay the expenses of the local municipality to rebuild in the wake of the explosion.
Hawaii officials ask for DNA samples from families who have missing
Authorities in Hawaii pleaded with relatives of those missing after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century to come forward and give DNA samples, saying the low number provided so far threatens to hinder efforts to identify any remains discovered in the ashes.
Yellowknife still too unsafe for residents to return home, mayor says
The mayor of Yellowknife says it's not safe for residents to go home to the territorial capital, but notes city officials are working on a return plan as a fire continues to burn about 15 kilometres away.
Firefighter attends virtual citizenship ceremony from B.C. wildfire frontlines
When Walter Roos was planning for the ceremony over Zoom where he would become a Canadian citizen, he expected to attend in business attire while at home in Popkum, B.C., east of Chilliwack.
B.C. travel ban lifted as wildfire regions have rain, lightning in forecast
Firefighters in British Columbia's southern Interior continue to battle a number of significant wildfires even as cooler, wetter weather is anticipated in the region.
Wildfire smoke can damage the brain long after flames are out
A growing body of international research suggests pollution from wildfire smoke can produce cognitive deficits, post-traumatic stress and may even increase the risk of dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Canadians don't know who's to blame for housing crisis: poll
Despite what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said recently, a new poll suggests 40 per cent of Canadians think his government is to blame for the country's housing crisis.
Heat pumps can and should be the new AC
If the entire supply of new central air conditioners was replaced with heat pumps starting in 2025, it would mean cumulative energy bill savings of $10.4 billion across Canada by 2035.
What downwinders inherited from Oppenheimer’s Trinity blast
In the days of "Oppenheimer," an exhibition advocates for the expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
A remote Canadian island makes history in fight for affordable housing
B.C.’s Cortes Island is making housing history as the first community in the province to tax short-term holiday rentals and have all the funds directed to affordable housing projects, said Mark Vonesch, the area’s Strathcona Regional District director.
Ontario Provincial Police hand Greenbelt investigation to RCMP, following scathing report
In the wake of a heated controversy surrounding the Ontario Greenbelt land swap, Ryan Amato, chief of staff for Housing Minister Steve Clark, has tendered his resignation. Premier Doug Ford accepted Tuesday’s resignation "effective immediately.”
Extreme weather: Everything, everywhere, all at once
A nightmarish summer of wildfires for Greece took its deadliest turn yet on Tuesday when firefighters found the burned bodies of 18 people near the city of Alexandroupolis.
Researchers find climate crisis made Quebec fires at least two times as likely
Published by the World Weather Attribution, an international collaboration of scientists who study how climate change and extreme weather events interact, the study also found climate change made the fire-prone weather about 20 to 50 per cent more intense.