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FORT ST. JOHN, B.C.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. Officials are urging residents and others to evacuate the areas surrounding two out-of-control wildfires in northeastern British Columbia near the Alberta border, in response to reports that some have stayed behind or ventured toward the blazes.

The Peace River Regional District said it has received reports that some residents living in areas under an evacuation order due to the Boundary Lake and Red Creek wildfires have "decided to stay behind" for unspecified reasons.

District board chair Leonard Hiebert said there has also been reports of others driving into the wildfire area, located about 1,300 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

"This is impeding the response and putting their lives and the lives of firefighters at risk," Hiebert said. " I personally don't know why they are driving in there, and I don't know how many are."

In a statement issued Saturday, the district said that strong winds were "expected to contribute to the continued growth" of both the Boundary Lake and Red Creek wildfires for the next 24 to 48 hours.

On Sunday, the Boundary Lake wildfire near Goodlow, B.C., grew from 1,900 to 3,000 hectares, while the Red Creek blaze encompassed 1,550 hectares near Fort St. John, B.C.

The fires, which were discovered Friday, have placed 164 properties in total 103 for Boundary Lake, 61 for Red Creek under mandatory evacuation order. Another 397 properties are on alert for evacuation on short-notice, district officials said.

The regional district's area that covers both Boundary Lake and Red Creek has declared a state of local emergency to allow it to respond quicker to the wildfires.

Hiebert said it is understandable that residents in the fire area may be reluctant to leave because they also raise livestock on their properties. Those who evacuate their properties usually have to leave livestock behind, he said.

The regional district, Hiebert said, is working on creating permits to facilitate emergency personnel re-entry into the fire zone to check on the welfare of the animals but only if the wildfire situation allows.

"At this time, it is not safe to do so," he said.

Those who decide to stay behind despite the evacuation order, Hiebert said, must be 19 or older and must remain on their properties.

Natural Resources Canada's fire danger map for western Canada improved significantly on Sunday, with Alberta no longer covered almost entirely under the extreme danger zone as it was on Saturday.

A third wildfire 700 kilometres to the south of the Peace River region blazes, at Teare Creek, also continued to burn on Sunday.

The BC Wildfire Service, however, said the blaze was under control and unlikely to spread, while the evacuation orders and alerts for residents near the village of McBride have been rescinded.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2023.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press

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Out-of-control wildfires in northeastern B.C. expected to worsen due ... - Times Colonist

A new roundabout will open at the intersection at Old Bathurst Road and Smith Street from Thursday 18 May, weather permitting.Road signage will be updated to reflect this change as the roundabout replaces the T-intersection.

Nightwork will also progress through May to continue essential work on the Emu Plains Commuter Car Park project.

A section of Old Bathurst Road between Great Western Highway and Smith Street will be closed for night work between9pm and 5am from Monday 15 May to Friday 19 May for finishing work on the new roundabout, weather permitting.

A detour will be in place via Russell Street and workers will be on site to set up from 6pm each night. To minimise impacts to motorists,Old Bathurst Road will be reopened as soon as work has been completedeach night.

Utility work will also take place over the weekend of 20-21 May. Minor traffic flow changes will be made as required, and traffic controllers and signage will be in place for the safety of motorists and workers.

Further night work is required during May and June to undertake finishing work for the roundabout including concreting, road surfacing, line marking, utility relocation and other activities.

Road users are advised to observe roadside signage for up-to-date information regarding the latest closure information, drive to the conditions and follow the directions of signs and traffic control.

Transport for NSW thanks the community for their ongoing patience during this time.

For the latest traffic updates download the Live Traffic NSW App, visit livetraffic.com or call 132 701.

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Changed traffic conditions on Old Bathurst Road at Emu Plains ... - Transport for NSW

California Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately criticized the Republican controlled Congress after a deadly mass shooting at a mall in suburban Dallas, Texas killed at least 8 and injured 7 others on Saturday afternoon, slamming Congress for not passing gun control reform.

"This is freedom?? To be shot at a mall? Shot at school? Shot at church? Shot at the movies?" the Democrat governor wrote in a Twitter post shortly after police confirmed the causalities. "We have become a nation that is more focused on the right to kill than the right to live."

"We have become a nation that is more focused on the right to kill than the right to live."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference on October 06, 2022 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Police chief Brian Harvey said during an evening presser that on Saturday, May 6 a police officer was on an unrelated call nearby when gunshots erupted at Allen Premium Outlets at 3:36 p.m. The officer "engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat," police said. A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital that the suspected shooter is dead and that they believe he acted alone.

TEXAS AUTHORITIES CONFIRM 8 DEAD IN ALLEN PREMIUM OUTLETS SHOOTING NEAR DALLAS, SEVERAL MORE INJURED

Nine people died in total, including the suspected shooter - seven were found dead at the scene, and two other later succumbed to their injuries after being transported to the hospital.

Texas police responded to reports of a shooting at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday afternoon. (FOX 4 Dallas)

The two term governor has previously called out Republicans for inaction on the issue of gun control, doubling down on the need for federal gun control reform.

"This is not what the American people want," Gov. Newsom continued.

CALIFORNIA REPARATIONS PANEL TO RECOMMEND 'DOWN PAYMENTS' TO BLACK RESIDENTS, ABOLISHING CASH BAIL

According to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in a partnership with Northeastern University, 2023 is shaping up to the most mass shootings since the database began it's tracking in 2006. There has been 22 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023, not including the shooting at the Texas mall on May 6.

"Do your d*mn job, Congress," Newsom said.

An hour following the governors initial post, he slammed Texas Governor Greg Abbott for cutting mental health funding.

"This is your reminder that @GregAbbott_TX cut $211 million in mental health funding," Newsom wrote.

In April, Abbott announced he would be moving $465.3 million from state agencies to, "support border operations." Of that amount, $210.7 million was from Texas Health & Human Services, which oversees public mental health programs.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In response to what the Republican governor has described as the federal government's inaction on border security, the governor has launched several initiatives aimed at addressing the border crisis as illegal migrants continue to stream across the southern border.

Governor Newsom and Governor Abbott's offices did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News' Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.

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Gavin Newsom slams Congress following Texas mass shooting: 'More focused on right to kill than right to live' - Fox News

NATALIE LOCKE, HOST: Hey everybody, guess what. The Prime Minister in the house.

NATHAN MORRIS, HOST: Isn't it amazing?

SHAUN MCMANUS, HOST: Hes not waiting for anybody.

PRIME MINISTER: Hey, everybody.

MORRIS: Hello, Prime Minister.

LOCKE: Fresh from the coronation, Anthony Albanese.

PRIME MINISTER: Great to be here.

MCMANUS: Tiredness out of, between one and ten please sir?

PRIME MINISTER: 9.5, I think. Had a bit of sleep last night, but I have no idea what time it is. It's dark outside, so it must still be night.

MORRIS: I cannot believe you didn't even get to experience the excitement of the Coronation concert.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's this little thing called the Budget happening tomorrow.

LOCKE: Yes, which is tomorrow.

MORRIS: People aren't interested in that, are they?

LOCKE: Yeah but thats the Treasurer's job, isn't it?

PRIME MINISTER: So we ducked straight out after the Coronation, straight to the airport. We actually got to the airport quick and were then waiting because there was a bit of a queue.

LOCKE: Yeah well Prince Harry had to get out too.

PRIME MINISTER: There were a few planes at Stansted waiting to take off.

LOCKE: Is that right?

PRIME MINISTER: And so we went by Dubai, had to refuel there for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. So I have no idea what time it is, my body clocks just off the scale.

LOCKE: You don't need to figure it out till you get back to Canberra.

PRIME MINISTER: 7:30 tomorrow night, I have to be in the chamber for Jim Chalmers Budget speech. I know that. If I wasn't there, people might notice.

MORRIS: It's amazing, we were just talking about the fact that you are looking, you're in history, like you're attending history. We're watching it. You're in it. You're in it.

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's an extraordinary event, of course. The first time in my lifetime. First time in 70 years. And you absolutely had that sense of history. And the British, no one does pageantry and ceremony like the British.

LOCKE: It was like an Anne Hathaway movie.

MCMANUS: And that was slimmed down they said.

MORRIS: I tell you what, we need more fancy hats. Like we don't have enough fancy hats in Australia.

LOCKE: Thats where weve gone wrong obviously.

NATHA: Everyone had like a big furry one and a cone shaped one and a princess one.

LOCKE: We're gonna get more details on the Coronation. We've got to get a song on.

PRIME MINISTER: We have caps and Akubras.

MORRIS: I know, corks on strings.

LOCKE: Alright, were going to find out all the details of the Coronation, coming up next with the Prime Minister.

(Song break)

LOCKE: Nathan, Nat and Shaun and the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in the house on his way home from the Coronation. You're a republican, right?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, absolutely.

LOCKE: How was that, did you feel a bit conflicted sitting there watching the pageantry and the pomp?

PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. I want an Australian as our head of state. But there are, of course, 57 countries in the Commonwealth. Only 15 countries are part of the realm, which means that the King is the King of Australia.

MCMANUS: Its like Game of Thrones.

PRIME MINISTER: And so it's important as Prime Minister that I respect institutions which are there.

LOCKE: Until we change it.

PRIME MINISTER: Exactly, and that you do the right thing. I wasn't there to have a protest, which is what some people seem to think I should have done. I mean, it's ridiculous.

MCMANUS: Albo, that's really interesting to hear because I didn't know there was only 15 left that are ruled by the King. Because my thing was that, and I think we should be a republic, we've got to that point. But I was thinking, if we do that, then we're out of the Commonwealth Games. And that's one thing that we win all the time.

PRIME MINISTER: No, not at all.

LOCKE: Canada.

PRIME MINISTER: No, Canadas one of the realm countries.

LOCKE: Is it?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, Canadas in.

LOCKE: Dont they have a President?

PRIME MINISTER: No, they have a Governor-General like us. So, the 15 realm countries, you get a better seat if you're a realm country.

MORRIS: Oh really?

PRIME MINISTER: So there are the realm countries, then the non-realm Commonwealth countries.

MORRIS: And then Harry.

LOCKE: And then Prince Andrew.

PRIME MINISTER: It's the only time where the United States representatives and France and some of the big G7 countries, they're further back from Australia.

MCMANUS: Oh, that's good news.

PRIME MINISTER: Antigua's first, we're always second of the realm countries.

LOCKE: Oh, so its alphabetical.

PRIME MINISTER: Its always Antigua, Australia, Bahamas. So, I've got to know the Prime Ministers of Antigua and Bahamas very well.

LOCKE: They bit of fun?

PRIME MINISTER: They are. They are actually.

LOCKE: Talk about cricket?

PRIME MINISTER: Exactly. Well, particularly Antigua.

MORRIS: We need to know, the one question that everyone was asking about the Coronation, and this actually is from the Queen's funeral as well is, the toilet situation there? My dad was flipping out watching it, going, what if you have to go to the toilet? Because you're there for hours and it doesn't look like it's a situation where you can get up from your seat and go to a porta-loo. So, what's the deal?

PRIME MINISTER: The deal is, don't drink water in the morning, literally.

MORRIS: Really? So, do they say if you need to go to the toilet you cannot?

PRIME MINISTER: No, I think in an emergency you could, but it would be pretty disruptive.

MORRIS: Embarrassing.

PRIME MINISTER: And you're conscious of the cameras. So, literally, the night before we had.

LOCKE: You start the drying out process?

PRIME MINISTER: We had a gathering of all of the Australian representatives, and of course, we had three Victoria Cross winners, including the wonderful Keith Payne, who's just an absolute legend. And we had Sam Kerr.

MCMANUS: What a champion.

PRIME MINISTER: Great West Australian, chosen by me to be the flag bearer. And she just looked fantastic and she's so awesome. And so we had Sam, and we had Nick Cave, and we had Adam Hills, and we had a nurse from the NHS, and we had people from the arts, Yvonne Kenny. And we had an amazing group.

LOCKE: The AstraZeneca developer.

PRIME MINISTER: And we told, we got told, everyone, make sure in the morning, you don't drink a whole lot of water.

LOCKE: Adam Hills said in an interview that he did a dummy run the day before, of just having a little bit of coffee in the morning to get himself up and about and then not drinking for the rest of the day to see how long he could hold on for, so that he knew that he was prepared.

PRIME MINISTER: Training, you need training for an event like this.

MORRIS: And then a bowl of sawdust for breakfast.

MCMANUS: When youre at the Coronation, because we all watched a fair bit of it on TV, but it gets to the point, right, where we're seeing it and like, okay, where's the sport, not for everyone.

LOCKE: Well, the Dockers were playing Shaun, so what were you going to do?

MCMANUS: But, you know, did you get bored there?

PRIME MINISTER: No, not at all.

MORRIS: Oh, come on.

PRIME MINISTER: Nup, not at all.

LOCKE: How far before it started, did you have to be in, sit you in your spot?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, not too long before, and some were there many hours beforehand.

MORRIS: Not the important realmers, though.

PRIME MINISTER: The realm, exactly, exactly. So, when you're from the realm, you get in just before just before other royals, and then the actual Royal Family. So, Princess Mary was just sitting just across, the same aisle as we were, and so you get to see all the royals moving in and then the Royal Family coming in, and then it's on. And there is something about the acoustics in a cathedral, or in this case an abbey, that is just magnificent. And the singing and the music was beautiful.

MORRIS: But was there, there was a bit too much of it. There was twenty-one of those choir songs. Twenty-one, fifteens probably enough, tens enough.

PRIME MINISTER: Hang on, it went for two hours, the last one went for more than double that.

MCMANUS: Whoah, okay.

MORRIS: And the worst thing is, like Katy Perry was there. It's like, can you just not stand up and do a bit of I Kissed A Girl?

LOCKE: Alright, we've got more with the Prime Minister coming up next.

(Break)

LOCKE: Nathan, Nat and Shaun, were just unpacking the Coronation with the Prime Minister, who's joined us here in the studio. Anthony Albanese, it's always a pleasure to have you in town.

PRIME MINISTER: Its good to be here. And I'm sorry I've disappointed you, mate, by you not being the flagbearer.

MORRIS: It was very upsetting for me.

LOCKE: But we've seen your upper arms Nathan, I dont think you couldve.

PRIME MINISTER: It was Sam Kerr or you, you made the final two on the list.

MORRIS: Yeah I know, but like, I understand that Sam Kerr has done some things, but like Shaun, come on.

PRIME MINISTER: She's pretty handy. We beat England two-nil.

Read more:
Radio Interview - Nova 93.7 Perth breakfast with Nathan, Nat & Shaun - Prime Minister of Australia

On the one-year anniversary of the leak of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, the Senate Judiciary Committee is hearing from legal experts Tuesday on ethics and the Supreme Court. "Amicus" podcast host Dahlia Lithwick joins us.

And, there are reports that Vice Media is preparing to file for bankruptcy. Roben Farzad, host of public radio's "Full Disclosure," tells us more.

Then, does rent control improve housing affordability in the long run? Economist Rebecca Diamond was part of a study in San Francisco that found that in the long run, rent control drove up rents because it led a number of landlords to convert their housing to other uses and it reduced the supply of rental units.

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Research finds rent control reduces affordability in long run ... - NPR