It was a blessing to get some lower temperatures and rain this weekend to give the lawns, plants, trees and shrubs a well needed watering.  It has been an extremely dry and warm year with summer apparently starting in April.  In the past four months we have had only 83 mm of precipitation measured in Vancouver.  This compares to 172 mm in 2025, 197 mm in 2024, 155.7 mm in 2023 and 284 mm in 2022.  It was only in 2021, the year of the heat dome that killed over 600 people in B.C. that we saw anything close to this year's numbers and that was 105 mm with zero precipitation in July.  With the lack of snowpack, low precipitation, high temperatures and winds combined with lightning, B.C.'s forests have exploded into flame.  The BC Wildfire Service Map is dotted with 145 active forest fires which include 5 of note and multiple areas under evacuation notice.

All of this brings us to the fire danger in the City of Surrey and what is being done to manage it.   If you visit the City of Surrey website you will see the following warning.  "The fire danger rating is currently High. Our forests and landscapes are very dry. Please take extra care to prevent fires. Charcoal briquette barbecues are not permitted in parks at this time."   In addition to this there is information about urban wildfire risks.  "Climate change is making summers longer, drier and hotter which increases fire risk in urban settings.  Wildfire sparks and embers from several kilometres away can ignite materials and cause severe damage to your home.  Fires can spread from the forest into the community, or from the community to the forest.  Both situations need actions to lessen the risk."  Outdoor burning with permits was cancelled effective May 1st putting an end to open solid fuel burning and beach fires in particular.  I should also note here that smoking (including vaping) is not permitted in Surrey parks at any time.

While all of this is wonderful, there is a big piece of the fire safety puzzle that has gone missing this year.  In all of my driving across Surrey this spring and summer, I have yet to see one of the big "Today's Fire Danger Rating" signs.   You will definitely have seen them in year's past; they are the large 4'x8' signs colour coded with green for low, yellow for moderate, orange for high and red for extreme with an arrow pointer.  They used to be in front of the Surrey Fire Halls, next to busy Intersections and along city highways.  To make matters worse, in Delta they have permanent ones in front of every Fire Hall that are changed by their crews upon receiving the daily fire threat report from the B.C. Wildfire Service.  It is almost as if all of these important fire safety signs across Surrey simply went up in smoke.  While grass and bark mulch fires are a regular occurrence this time of year, I have also yet to see any "A Fire Happened Here" lawn signs showing a crossed out cigarette.  I know of only one on King George Blvd at the Nicomekl bridge but it is from last year and is covered with weeds.

I stopped by one of the local fire halls to see if the Surrey Fire Service members knew anything about the lack of fire danger signage.  The men were as surprised as I was and had not realized that these signs had never shown up this year.  After they talked to the officer in charge, I was told that the signs were a Provincial directive and that the SFS did not have anything to do with their installation.  That may be the case but I know from stock photos available on the internet that these signs carried a City of Surrey logo on the bottom right hand corner.  I also realized that in years previous I'd seen ads for the fire danger rating on some of the huge electronic billboards, including one on #10 Highway near the Courthouse and cop shop.  It turns out that the SFS has a map on their Burning Regulations and Permits page showing the locations of 21 of these signs spaced widely across the Surrey.  This includes six at fire halls, nine at busy intersections, plus six large electronic billboards.  To date the only City fire sign I've seen this year is a temporary one used at the entrance to Crescent Beach warning there are no beach fires allowed.

Armed with the fire sign location map and with smoke coming from my ears, I decided to go for a drive and check out the locations from 64 Ave. south.  This included an extra location in front of Fire Hall 17 on 32 Ave just west of 152 St that formerly had a Fire Danger Rating sign as seen in the photo at the top of this TNT.  In total this was 3 fire halls, 4 busy intersections and the one electronic billboard on #10 Hwy.  It turns out that there was not a single sign to be found; zero, zilch, nada.  This is in the middle of the summer, during a high fire danger rating, with many parts of B.C. on fire and towns being evacuated.  How did this happen?  Who dropped the ball?  Why was this important public notification program apparently cancelled?  It will be interesting to find out who was responsible for these signs and why in the warmest and driest year on record it was decided they were not needed.  I should note that on the City of Surrey Facebook page, there was only one post about the high fire danger rating that we are currently in, which was posted last week when temperatures peaked at 40 C with the humidex.  

If you have a burning desire for more information on this subject, please check out these websites. 

https://vancouver.weatherstats.ca/charts/precipitation-monthly.html

https://wildfiresituation.nrs.gov.bc.ca/dashboard

https://www.surrey.ca/about-surrey/surrey-emergency-program/urban-wildfire-preparedness

https://www.surrey.ca/news-events/news/open-burning-banned-surrey-starting-may-1

https://www.surrey.ca/about-surrey/surrey-fire-services/burning-regulations-permits

Naturally yours,

Don Pitcairn

75th Annual White Rock Sea Festival 

Join us for a milestone celebration as the 75th Annual White Rock Sea Festival returns to White Rock's beautiful waterfront July 31 – August 2, 2026!

Spend the BC Day long weekend enjoying three days of live entertainment, family fun, delicious food, community spirit, and spectacular ocean views across Memorial Park, Bayview Park, and the White Rock Pier.

 Festival Highlights

 Friday, July 31
• Kick off the weekend with a FREE outdoor screening of Hoppers at Bayview Park, presented by the White Rock BIA and Fresh Air Cinema
• Park opens at 7:00 PM and the movie begins at dusk. Bring a chair or blanket and enjoy a movie under the stars!

 Live Music
Enjoy free performances all weekend on theMemorial Park Main Stage.
• Saturday: NTWINE brings an energetic mix of R&B, pop, and powerhouse vocals.
• Sunday: Totally Twain performs the biggest hits of Canadian country superstar Shania Twain.

 Family Fun
Saturday & Sunday | 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Bayview Park comes alive with free family activities including:

 Waiter's Race
Saturday at 7:45 PM
Cheer on servers from local restaurants as they race through a fun obstacle course presented by the White Rock BIA.

 Torchlight Parade
Saturday at 8:30 PM
One of White Rock's favourite traditions returns as illuminated floats travel along Marine Drive from Oxford Street toward Semiahmoo Park.

 Hot Rodz Car Show
Sunday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Car enthusiasts can enjoy the Hot Rodz Car Show and Award Ceremony at the Bayview Lots west of Oxford Street. 
The award ceremony will take place at 3 p.m.

 Fireworks Finale
Sunday at 10:00 PM
Wrap up an unforgettable weekend with a spectacular fireworks display over the waterfront.

 Location

White Rock Waterfront
• Memorial Park
• Bayview Park
• White Rock Pier

 Getting Here

• Transit is encouraged! Bus routes 361 and 362 connect Uptown White Rock to the waterfront.
• Paid parking is available throughout the waterfront, including the West Beach Parkade.
• Carpooling is recommended, as parking is limited.

 Admission is FREE!

Bring your family, friends, lawn chairs, and your festival spirit as we celebrate 75 years of the White Rock Sea Festival.

We can't wait to celebrate with you on the waterfront! 

I am coming to the end of nearly 12 years on White Rock city council.  The ONLY reason I started this journey was the opposition of over 750 residents against the first two BOSA TOWERS in Miramar plaza in uptown White Rock.

It was not an easy journey, it took me 4 attempts, two elections and two bi elections.  I am not easily deterred.

My first term thankfully had one other council member, the late HELEN FATHERS who listened to the residents.  The “Coalition” led by Wayne Baldwin with the support of councillors KNIGHT, LAWRENCE (yes they came back) MYERS and  SINCLAIR  engaged in a building frenzy that saw 10 towers approved when they were through their term.  For the record 8 of those towers needed and Official Community Plan amendment. Two of those towers on Oxford have yet to be built.

The next election saw the entire works of them shown the door by the residents of White Rock. 

Next up DEMOCRACY DIRECT led by mayor DARRYL WALKER with a council made up of their slate members MANNING, TREVEYLAN, KRISTJANSON and JOHANSSON and councillor FATHERS and myself returning.  DEMOCRACY DIRECT rode right into city hall with a simple message to the people.  Elect us and we will not build any high-rises. There was a huge pause in construction in White Rock. A breather if you like, and the residents liked it.

This past term saw KNIGHT and LAWRENCE return with councillors CHEUNG and PARTRIDGE on what the Peace Arch News came to refer to as a “not so secret slate.” 

Despite Mayor KNIGHT professing in a video clip “Elect Me and I will not touch the Official Community Plan” it didn’t take long in my opinion for the "not so secret slate" to make public their goal.  Build baby build.

For the past 3 1/2 years we once again were talking about how high buildings should be in White Rock.  It was easy to dismiss off any criticism with the worn out saying “Oh the Provincial Government is making us build more high-rises.”

In my opinion not true.

Back in October a bi election was called and two new members of council were elected.  MANNING and newcomer SUSAN BAINS were elected.  Lo and behold they shared a similar vision to councillor TREVEYLAN and I regarding a measured outlook on the densification of White Rock. Which by the way is already the 8th densest city in all of Canada. 

Voila in the 11th hour we tore the Official Community Plan apart and pushed development back up off the hillside and spread it along the border of Surrey along 16th avenue. Four lanes to move the traffic in and out of White Rock and no one in White Rock would be in the shadows of any towers.

Given the recent turn in the economy there will not be any high-rises built any time soon, but we wanted to make sure there was no pre-approval for the future.  Let future councils deal with the matter.

I urge you to read the article posted above on this page regarding the OCP Public Hearing tomorrow (Monday) of White Rock Council.  You don’t have to motor on up to the community centre, you can simply send an email expressing what you want for the future of White Rock.

It’s easy.

Thank you for making democracy work.  Government for the people by the people.  

We can do this TOGETHER!

David Chesney

Editor Publisher

Third Term White Rock city councillor