Category Archives: Disaster

Disaster

Owen Bay Fire on Sonora Island ‘under control’

CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

The Owen Bay Fire, on the Southern tip of Sonora Island, is now under control.

It was first reported about 4 p.m. on Thursday. By the time the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) issued a wildfire evacuation alert for the 30 or so residences south of Hyacinth and Dorr Lakes, at 11:45 PM, the fire had grown to two hectares. BC Wildfire Service reported that at least one structure was involved.

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Disaster

The need for a better ambulance service

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CKTZ News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Green party MLA Adam Olsen has been listening to calls for a better ambulance service since he was first elected 2017. The need became even more apparent after 808 people died during the last five days of June. 75% of them are believed to have perished because of the heat wave that stuck the province. A large number were allegedly waiting for ambulances that arrived too late.

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Disaster

SRD against new ambulance service initiative for Rural Areas

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The Strathcona Regional District Board is against a new ambulance service initiative that threatens the ability of rural communities like Cortes Island, Sayward, Tahsis and Zeballos to respond when there is an emergency. 

BC Emergency Health Services has sent out a letter stating they intend to create 170 new ambulance service positions across the province. 

What they did not say is they are cutting the pay for paramedics on standby back to $2 an hour. 

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Disaster

Enhanced Emergency Ambulance Services? Or Catastrophic Collapse of a Service?

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There may be more to the enhanced emergency ambulance services being brought to rural communities like Cortes Island and Zeballos than meets the eye. 

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Disaster

Observing Earthquakes off the West Coast

The offshore region between Northern Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii is one of the most seismically active regions in Canada. There have been more than 2,000 earthquakes during the last 4 to 5 years, and four of them measured more than 6 on the richer scale. While the magnitude 2.9 quake in Campbell River last February was smaller, it is a reminder that earthquakes happen here. In this morning’s broadcast Andrew Schaeffer, an Earthquake Seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, describes the network of seismic stations that observe earthquakes off the West Coast

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