vancouver-woman-narrowly-misses-being-hit-by-falling-window-downtown
| |

Vancouver woman narrowly misses being hit by falling window downtown

ByEmma Crawford

Posted October 13, 2024 2:19 pm. Last Updated October 13, 2024 5:20 pm. Editor’s note: a previous version of this story had said a window had fallen from the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel. The window had in fact fallen from the Fairmont Pacific Rim Estates — a residential building near the hotel. A Vancouver woman says she was seconds away from being hit by a glass window that fell outside a downtown building and smashed onto the sidewalk. Val Jones says she was at the corner of Burrard and West Cordova street around 2 p.m. Saturday when she heard a crash behind her. “At the same time as I looked back, I started running forwards because I can see glass just shattering about five feet behind me,” said Jones. Jones says she was initally confused and then got an adrenaline rush later at a coffee shop. She says there were two families with children nearby, and the glass may have also damaged a nearby car. “Afterwards, I went into the hotel and I actually told the concierge and he had no idea anything had just happened either.” Jones says this is one of her fears while living in the city and suspects if she had waited two extra seconds, she could have been hit by the window. She now wants answers about how this could have happened. “I would love to know how a window falls out of a hotel, especially a hotel that’s been there for quiet some time,” said Jones. “This is obviously something that is a public saftey concern.” Kerrie Bowders, director of marketing and communications for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, confirms the glass fell from the Fairmont Pacific Rim Estates and says nobody was hurt. 1130 NewsRadio has reached out to the building’s management for comment.

new-report-outlines-impact-a-large-earthquake-could-have-on-vancouver
| |

Vancouver large earthquake potential impact

ByEmma Crawford

Posted November 7, 2024 10:39 pm. Last Updated November 7, 2024 10:44 pm. A new report from the City of Vancouver and Natural Resources Canada has outlined how a 7.2-magnitude earthquake could impact Vancouver, and it highlights six neighborhoods in high-risk areas. In the report, Vancouver’s West End, Yaletown, the Downtown Eastside, Kitsilano, Fairview, and Mount Pleasant have the highest risk of damage from a large earthquake. The report also stated that if a large earthquake centred at the Georgia Strait were to occur, there would be over 1,300 casualties and over 6,000 privately owned buildings that would be damaged in Vancouver. The co-author of the report says the economic impact on the city could be more than $17 billion, with a $30 billion loss provincewide. “If we don’t fix these buildings, then when an earthquake happens, people are going to be out of those houses, those homes, and those buildings,” said Dr. Tiegan Hobbs, a seismic risk scientist with Natural Resources Canada. “Everybody will be out all at once while we have to rebuild everything, as opposed to these programs where we might have to move people out to fix a building but we can do it in stages and work towards it slowly for many years or even decades.” Hobbs said in the report that three problematic building types should take priority with the retrofitting process: older concrete highrises in the West End and downtown, and older brick and wood residential buildings. While this retrofitting process is still in the works, Vancouver City Coun. Pete Fry says it will be important to secure funding from the provincial and federal governments as they map out a seismic risk-reduction strategy in the future. “On receipt of the report, the next step would be to come up with a plan for how we can approach these risks in a sensible and measured way, recognizing that we already do have a crisis with housing and affordability. This is not an inexpensive undertaking, and if we want to replace these high-risk seismic buildings, it is going to cost a lot of money, and it’s going to take some time,” Fry said. “It’s a complicated undertaking, and I hope that this also informs conversations not just here in the city of Vancouver but with the region, the province, and of course the federal government, because it is going to need an ‘all hands on deck’ approach, especially when it comes to private property.” Hobbs says that while the numbers the report has outlined are “doom and gloom,” the odds of a large earthquake hitting the city within the next 50 years is around 5 per cent. This report will be brought to Vancouver City Council in their next meeting on Tuesday.

one-of-bc-ferries-busiest-vessels-taken-out-of-service-for-6-months
| | | | |

One of BC Ferries busiest vessels taken out of service for 6 months

ByEmma Crawford

Posted September 7, 2024 1:24 pm. Last Updated September 7, 2024 1:30 pm. The Queen of New Westminster, one of BC Ferries’ busiest vessels, will be out of service for approximately six months, the company says. The vessel services the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay sailing — BC Ferries’ busiest route. Earlier this week, the company announced the 60-year-old vessel was being pulled due to mechanical vessels after one of its propellers was sheared off, leading to the cancellation of all the ship’s sailings for the rest of the month. “A preliminary visual inspection seems to indicate the fracture of the propeller shaft could be related to structural fatigue,” BC Ferries said. “The required repairs are anticipated to be significant and include work on both the port and starboard propeller systems before the vessel can be returned to service.” The affected parts need to replaced by specially manufactured systems. Return to service will be reliant on “global parts availability and manufacturing timelines.” “This situation highlights the clear need for resiliency in our fleet to meet customer expectations, and it’s why we will be seeking approval from the Ferry Commissioner to build and add a net new vessel to our major routes,” said BC Ferries president and CEO Nicolas Jimenez. “If we had a backup vessel available, this incident would have had minimal impact on service. It underscores the importance of our fleet renewal strategy to ensure we have the capacity and resilience to manage unexpected issues and vessel repairs.” Recovery of the 10,000-pound propeller, which was found half-submerged in the seabed, took two days. BC Ferries says it is still assessing the impact this will have on its sailing schedule. It says it is looking to see if it can add sailings by using other vessels and adjusting its refitting schedule. With files from Cole Schisler.