A fire underneath Gilmore SkyTrain Station in Burnaby disrupted Millennium Line service Wednesday and left commuters scrambling. Flames and smoke rose near a pillar below the elevated tracks, and TransLink suspended service at the station while operating trains between VCC-Clark and Renfrew and between Lafarge Lake and Brentwood. A bus bridge ran between Renfrew and Holdom stations. Metro Vancouver Transit Police reported no injuries, and the cause and damage were unclear later in the day. Expo and Canada Line service continued normally while crews dealt with heavy smoke and investigated what appeared to be a fire set on a bench.
Family members have identified Jennifer Balcarras, 48, and her daughter Selah Reed, 20, as the victims of a suspected grizzly bear attack near Bella Coola. The pair went for a walk Saturday on the Snooka West Trail, a short drive from home, and were reported missing Sunday. Balcarras's remains were found Monday, and Reed was found dead Tuesday. Relatives remembered Balcarras, an art therapist and mother of four, as the heart of the family, and Reed as a gentle education assistant who loved ballet and hiking. Conservation officers are now trying to trap the bear, but none had been captured.
First Nations in British Columbia have filed eight separate legal challenges against Ottawa's decision to designate the Pacific Link oil pipeline a project of national interest. The designation is meant to speed approval of the line, which would carry Alberta oil to the B.C. coast. The Tsartlip First Nation called the federal decision reckless and rushed, warning that the coastline holds fishing areas vital to its people. The challenges set up a significant new legal test of the government's push to fast-track major infrastructure, and they highlight the continuing tension between resource development and Indigenous rights and title in Canada.
