An Amber Alert issued for an 18-month-old girl abducted by her father in Delta on Monday ended without incident in Merritt that day.
The girl was taken from her home in Tsawwassen at about 10:20 a.m. after a dispute between her parents.
Police in Merritt were notified and staked out the Coquihalla, looking for the suspect’s vehicle.
At about 1:30 p.m., Merritt RCMP spotted and pulled the vehicle over and arrested the father.
The girl was found safe and taken into police custody until she could be reunited with her mother, and the father will face several charges pending the outcome of an investigation.
Cpl. Doug Stone said the two have no connection to Merritt and the father was just travelling through on his way to Alberta, where he lives.
Fire department responds to two alarms within hours
Firefighters responded to a pair of false alarms on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday, just before midnight, 20 firefighters responded to a report of a commercial fire alarm at the Diacarbon pellet plant on Priest Avenue.
Upon arrival, members of the Merritt Fire Rescue Department found that the fire sprinkler system had been activated, but there was no fire, smoke or heat source.
“We don’t actually know if it was a false alarm,” Fire Chief Dave Tomkinson said, adding if there was any fire, the sprinkler system did its job.
Just after midnight, in the early morning hours of Wednesday, residents of the Nicola Apartments at 1703 Menzies St. had to be evacuated when 14 firefighters responded to a fire alarm.
Multiple pull stations had been triggered, but there was no fire.
People were allowed back into their apartments at about 12:45 a.m.
Police say they do not have a suspect in this file.
Tomkinson said the concern for the fire department with multiple false alarms is the risk of people becoming complacent and not evacuating their buildings in the event of a fire.
“And then over time, we have the real fire and removing people out of the building is far beyond the resources that the fire department has when we arrive,” Tomkinson said.
Outbreak lifted at Merritt hospital
The Interior Health Authority has lifted an outbreak for norovirus at the Nicola Valley Hospital.
The outbreak was declared on April 9 and lifted Wednesday after 96 hours with no new cases.
An outbreak is typically declared over after three days without a new case of illness.
Norovirus is a type of contagious stomach virus that can infect anyone.
It causes stomach or intestinal inflammation, leading to stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
There were four patients that had symptoms of norovirus during the outbreak.
Two others had symptoms related to other illnesses.
Increased infection control measures were lifted as well, and warning signs removed.
Normal procedures continue at the hospital.
As of Tuesday, there were no symptomatic patients at the hospital.
Samples were collected for testing to identify the illness.
People get norovirus from an infected person, contaminated food or water or by touching contaminated surfaces.
IHA spokesperson Michaela Swan said norovirus is common this time of year and can be circulating in a community.
IHA says outbreaks are not unusual in acute care facilities and procedure dictates declaring an outbreak early to limit the spread of illness.
IHA states these outbreaks serve as a reminder to everyone to do their part to limit the spread of illness, and the best way to do that is to ensure proper hand-washing practices.
