JUNE 2026
VOLUME 3|NO. 6
Photo by Robert Koopmans Josh Cowen, a Fire and Life Safety Educator with Kamloops Fire and Rescue, shows Westsyde homeowner Paul Patterson the dangers associated with cedar hedges. Even healthy cedars have dead debris inside, which poses significant risk in the event of wildfires. Embers can turn cedars into flaming torches in seconds.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING + COMMUNITY GATHERING
Celebrating generosity. Building tomorrow.
Thursday, June 25th Kamloops Yacht Club 5:00 - 7:30pm
www.BCICF.ca
ARE WE READY?
A16 Celebrate Pride Kamloops Pride has plenty of events in store for this annual event
Third homicide in 2026 RCMP continue to pursue leads in trio of murders in four months
A4 The Toxic Drug Crisis Columnist Radhika Tabrez digs deep into this community-wide issue
The question looms large in the face of another potentially difficult wildfire season Robert Koopmans: Submitted As spring moves toward summer, Kamloops residents are once again faced by a question that now looms over the interior of B.C. year after year — what will the wildfire season bring?
And more importantly, will we be ready if devastating fire strikes in the way it has in so many B.C. towns and cities in recent years? Mike Flannigan, a wildfire scientist at Thompson Rivers University, said as in any year, what happens with wildfires will depend on two factors.
“No one knows the future. It will depend on day-to-day weather and on ignitions, whether from lightning or people. Those will really determine what the season looks like,” he said. In the interior, conditions underlying this summer’s wildfire season forecast are concerning but there
have been years when things looked worse, Flannigan said. The Thompson region is well below normal for snowpack and valley bottoms were largely snow-free through the winter. Water levels in reservoirs and rivers are lower than usual. The long-range forecast suggests a warmer than usual summer.
SEE MORE ON THE UPCOMING FIRE SEASON ON A6–A7
A 14
LEGAL SERVICES
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