Alberni Valley

Smoke billows from a former mill building at Somass Sawmill on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (PHOTO COURTESY PAFD)

‘Suspicious’ fire erupts in former Somass Sawmill building in Port Alberni

Multiple departments responded to Oct. 14 blaze; RCMP is investigating cause

 

Hole in the Wall is a popular outdoor destination with tourists in Port Alberni, but parking to access the area is causing concern. (KATYA SLEPIAN/ AV News file photo)

Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District ponders the future of Hole in the Wall

Popular tourist attraction also causing safety issues

 

An aerial view of Angel Rock at Cameron Lake Bluffs on Highway 4. (PHOTO COURTESY MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE)

Traffic delays expected on Highway 4 east of Port Alberni on Sept. 14

Drivers can expect delays near the Cameron Bluffs wildfire site until early afternoon

 

Port Alberni firefighters work on knocking down a house fire on Bishop Crescent the morning of Sunday, Sept.10, 2023. (JERRY FEVENS PHOTO)

House burns on Bishop Crescent in Port Alberni

Port Alberni Fire Department crews were called out to a structure fire…

Port Alberni firefighters work on knocking down a house fire on Bishop Crescent the morning of Sunday, Sept.10, 2023. (JERRY FEVENS PHOTO)
Police, including a member of the forensics unit, enter a trailer behind the Wintergreen Apartments on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Man shot in suspected targeted shooting in Port Alberni

RCMP are still looking for suspect vehicle seen leaving the area

Police, including a member of the forensics unit, enter a trailer behind the Wintergreen Apartments on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Fishing has been ‘off the charts’ in the Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound, says Alberni Valley Tyee Club’s Carolyn Jasken. (FACEBOOK PHOTO)

Fish are biting in Alberni Inlet leading up to annual salmon derby

Fishers from all over vying for $10,000 top prize during Labour Day weekend event

Fishing has been ‘off the charts’ in the Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound, says Alberni Valley Tyee Club’s Carolyn Jasken. (FACEBOOK PHOTO)
Large amounts of debris continue to be removed from the Cameron Bluffs area on Highway 4 between Port Alberni and Whiskey Creek after a wildfire burned right to the highway in June 2023. (B.C. MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION PHOTO)

Another full-day closure Aug. 29 planned for Highway 4 at Cameron Bluffs

Closure is necessary if road will re-open fully by Labour Day: transportation ministry

Large amounts of debris continue to be removed from the Cameron Bluffs area on Highway 4 between Port Alberni and Whiskey Creek after a wildfire burned right to the highway in June 2023. (B.C. MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION PHOTO)
Beaver Creek VFD members ensure the department’s engine is packed for deployment to Kelowna. (BEAVER CREEK VFD PHOTO)

Vancouver Island firefighters deploy to Okanagan to fight wildfires

Alberni Valley crews part of dozens joining task groups in Kelowna, Shuswap

Beaver Creek VFD members ensure the department’s engine is packed for deployment to Kelowna. (BEAVER CREEK VFD PHOTO)
A small wildfire is burning north of Lacy Lake Road northeast of Port Alberni, between the city and Cameron Lake. (BC WILDFIRE SCREENSHOT)

Ground crews, helicopter attack wildfire northeast of Port Alberni

Fire was discovered Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 16

A small wildfire is burning north of Lacy Lake Road northeast of Port Alberni, between the city and Cameron Lake. (BC WILDFIRE SCREENSHOT)
Linden Zoet, 7, and Dallas Fraser, 9, have fun at the Sproat Lake Water Sports Association on July 19, 2023. Sproat Lake has been named B.C.’s best lake in a CBC competition. (SONJA DRINKWATER / Special to the AV News)

Sproat Lake voted best lake in B.C.

Sproat Lake is located west of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island

Linden Zoet, 7, and Dallas Fraser, 9, have fun at the Sproat Lake Water Sports Association on July 19, 2023. Sproat Lake has been named B.C.’s best lake in a CBC competition. (SONJA DRINKWATER / Special to the AV News)
Vladvictoria/Pixabay.com

Two sent to hospital after car, motorcycle collide near Port Alberni

Incident snarled traffic west of Port Alberni on busy Sunday evening

Vladvictoria/Pixabay.com
RCMP-GRC crest

Port Alberni RCMP shoot dog after attack

Sproat Lake campers hear commotion, gunshot

RCMP-GRC crest
RCMP-GRC crest

Port Alberni RCMP shoot dog after attack

Sproat Lake campers hear commotion, gunshot

RCMP-GRC crest
A land-based airtanker from Conair Aerial Firefighting drops retardant on a wildfire on Arbutus Mountain behind Shoemaker Bay, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Airtankers attack wildfire behind old log sort near Port Alberni

Fire is listed as less than one hectare; ground crew works on containment

A land-based airtanker from Conair Aerial Firefighting drops retardant on a wildfire on Arbutus Mountain behind Shoemaker Bay, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns, left, tours with the mobile methadone van in Portugal. The van is part of the mobile low threshold methadone program run by Ares do Pinhal, a non-governmental organization for social inclusion, according to Johns. (PHOTO COURTESY GORD JOHNS)

Island MP visits Portugal in search of solutions to toxic substance crisis

Gord Johns foots the bill for trip, saying he ‘can’t wait’ for gov’t intervention

Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns, left, tours with the mobile methadone van in Portugal. The van is part of the mobile low threshold methadone program run by Ares do Pinhal, a non-governmental organization for social inclusion, according to Johns. (PHOTO COURTESY GORD JOHNS)
Members of the Port Cubs are busy on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 getting the right field foul line lined up with home plate at Rec Park in preparation for a senior men’s baseball game. Baseball hasn’t been played at Rec Park since 1960. (SUSIE QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Vancouver Island steps up to the plate to host 55+ baseball nationals

Baseball returns to Port Alberni’s historic Rec Park for national championships Aug. 4–7

Members of the Port Cubs are busy on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 getting the right field foul line lined up with home plate at Rec Park in preparation for a senior men’s baseball game. Baseball hasn’t been played at Rec Park since 1960. (SUSIE QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Naomi Nicholson and her husband Ed have transformed their Chims Guest House property to offer different tourist accommodations. (HEATHER WARREN PHOTO)

Highway 4 closure costs millions in tourism, business challenges

Businesses continue to feel impact of continued closures during rock scaling work

Naomi Nicholson and her husband Ed have transformed their Chims Guest House property to offer different tourist accommodations. (HEATHER WARREN PHOTO)
Flames shoot up from a fire in the bush at the end of Cherry Creek Road beside Alberni Storage on Tuesday, July 28, 2023. (PAFD SCREENSHOT)

Port Alberni Fire Dept. knocks down two bush fires in less than an hour

First blaze ignited in trees near entrance to West Coast General Hospital

Flames shoot up from a fire in the bush at the end of Cherry Creek Road beside Alberni Storage on Tuesday, July 28, 2023. (PAFD SCREENSHOT)
Paraglider Jack Pincus, centre, from the Comox Valley and rescuers Dave Potter from Totem Tree Service, right, and a member of Alberni Valley Rescue Society are flown away from Mount Irwin by Ascent Helicopters after Pincus was rescued from the top of a 35-metre Douglas fir. (PHOTO COURTESY DAVE POTTER)

Alberni Search and Rescue calls on tree climber to help stuck paraglider

Comox Valley paraglider ‘unlucky’ on long weekend launch

Paraglider Jack Pincus, centre, from the Comox Valley and rescuers Dave Potter from Totem Tree Service, right, and a member of Alberni Valley Rescue Society are flown away from Mount Irwin by Ascent Helicopters after Pincus was rescued from the top of a 35-metre Douglas fir. (PHOTO COURTESY DAVE POTTER)
Thick, black smoke emanates from a fire at a barge full of hog fuel at Paper Excellence’s Catalyst Paper Mill in Port Alberni on Friday, July 7, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Multiple crews fight fire in barge full of hog fuel at Paper Excellence mill

Thick, black smoke from waterfront could be seen all over Port Alberni

Thick, black smoke emanates from a fire at a barge full of hog fuel at Paper Excellence’s Catalyst Paper Mill in Port Alberni on Friday, July 7, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)