Fire devastation in B.C. and Canada Day reckoning: In The News for July 2

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of July 2 …

What we are watching in Canada …

LYTTON, B.C. — The search continues today for multiple residents of a village in British Columbia’s Interior that was decimated by a wildfire this week. 

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth hasn’t said how many people from the Lytton, B.C., area are unaccounted for. 

He says it’s been hard to keep tabs on where everyone ended up given the urgent nature of Wednesday evening’s evacuation. 

Officials say it’s unclear whether anyone remains in the village due to a lack of cell service. 

RCMP say details about conditions in the village are scant because it’s not safe to enter the area, but aerial photos show that numerous buildings and vehicles have been destroyed. 

They say they’ll begin searching for missing or injured people on the ground as soon as it’s safe to do so. 

Farnworth has said that the roughly 1,000 people who managed to flee to safety when the emergency evacuation order was issued will find very little left when they return.

Meanwhile, just to the northeast, Kamloops, B.C. faced a wildfire threat that triggered an evacuation Thursday night.

The fire ignited during weather that produced several lightning strikes.

Fire Department platoon captain Troy Grant didn’t have an exact number but said some 200 people in the Juniper Ridge neighbourhood had been evacuated as the fast moving fire advanced toward the area.

The BC Wildfire Service says there are now at least 106 fires burning across the province, including dozens that started within just the past two days.

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Also this …

Canadians traded in the traditional red-and-white garb for Canada Day, donning orange, building memorials and taking part in events as part of a national reckoning with the horrific legacy of residential schools on Indigenous Peoples.

Many of the special events normally associated with Canada Day were either cancelled or scaled back, after hundreds of unmarked graves were found at residential school sites in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

Cowessess First Nation last week said that ground-penetrating radar detected 751 unmarked graves at the former Marieval Indian Residential School, not long after the discovery of what are believed to be the remains of 215 children in Kamloops, B.C.

And then on Wednesday, the Lower Kootenay Band said a search using ground-penetrating radar had found 182 human remains in unmarked graves at a site close to a former residential school in Cranbrook, B.C.

In his Canada Day message, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the horrific findings at the site of former residential schools have “rightfully pressed us to reflect on our country’s historical failures” and injustices that still exist for many.

“While we can’t change the past, we must be resolute in confronting these truths in order to chart a new and better path forward. Together, we have a long way to go to make things right with Indigenous Peoples,” said Trudeau, who spent his day with his family.

Chants of, “No pride in genocide,” echoed from orange-clad crowds of about 200 in the rain in St. John’s, N.L., to the estimated 3,000 who marched on Parliament Hill where there was a makeshift memorial of shoes, signifying the young lives lost.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

SURFSIDE, Fla. — Susana Alvarez fled her home on the 10th floor of Champlain Towers South, escaping with her life and almost nothing else.

“I don’t have anything,” said the 62-year-old survivor of the condominium building collapse just outside Miami. “I walked out with my pajamas and my phone.”

The disaster that killed at least 18 people, with more than 140 still missing, including four Canadians, also rendered dozens of people homeless. Many lost cars, too, buried in the building’s underground parking garage.

Though most who managed to flee to safety lived in parts of the building that remain standing, they have little hope of returning to reclaim clothing, computers, jewelry and sentimental possessions they left behind.

Officials said Thursday they’re making plans for the likely demolition of all parts of the building that didn’t collapse. The announcement came after search and rescue operations were paused for hours because of growing signs the structure was dangerously unstable.

Alvarez is still dealing with the trauma. She hasn’t slept in a bed since the collapse a week ago. Instead she’s been sleeping in a chair, constantly thinking of the victims who couldn’t escape. She still hears the screams from that night.

“I lost everything,” Alvarez said, “and it doesn’t mean anything to me.”

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

KABUL — U.S. officials say the U.S. military has left Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan after nearly 20 years. 

The facility was the epicenter of the war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. 

Two officials say the airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force in its entirety. 

They spoke on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to disclose the handover to the media. 

One of the officials also said the U.S. top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin S. Miller, “still retains all the capabilities and authorities to protect the forces.”

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ICYMI …

LONDON — Princes William and Harry put aside their differences Thursday to unveil a statue of Princess Diana, cementing their late mother’s place in royal history on what would have been her 60th birthday.

Diana’s three siblings joined the brothers for the private ceremony in the Sunken Garden at London’s Kensington Palace, a place the princess once found solace. It was only the second time the brothers have appeared together in public since Harry stepped aside from royal duties over a year ago.

The statue, which shows a larger-than-life Diana surrounded by three children, was commissioned by the brothers in 2017. The style of her dress is meant to evoke the final period of her life, when she gained confidence in her humanitarian work.

“Today, on what would have been our mother’s 60th birthday, we remember her love, strength and character – qualities that made her a force for good around the world, changing countless lives for the better,” William and Harry said in a joint statement. “Every day, we wish she were still with us, and our hope is that this statue will be seen forever as a symbol of her life and her legacy.”

Royal watchers who hoped the unveiling ceremony would provide insight into the state of William and Harry’s strained relationship were likely to have been disappointed. Video released after the event showed the brothers entering the garden together before talking with family members and then pulling two ropes to remove the cover from the statue.

In their only other recent appearance together the pair seemed to chat amiably after the funeral for their grandfather, Prince Philip. But later reports indicated there was little progress in easing the rift.

Links between the brothers have been painfully strained in recent months, with William defending the royal family from allegations of racism and insensitivity made by Harry and his wife, Meghan, from their new home in Southern California.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jul 2, 2021

The Canadian Press