Cooler weather and less wind allowed officials in the Okanagan to rescind several evacuation alerts and orders related to the 14 wildfires burning in the region overnight Friday night.
The number of properties under such notices remained at nearly 1,000, however.
Axelle Bazett, a public information officer for the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre, told CTV News on Saturday that all of the evacuation alerts and orders associated with the Goode Creek and Law Creek fires had been rescinded.
The Mt. Eneas fire - the largest wildfire in the region at roughly 1400 hectares in size - still has numerous alerts and orders associated with it, Bazett said.
“We are hopeful,” she said. “It would be great to remove and rescind even more alerts and orders if we can.”
More than 200 firefighters are currently battling the blazes in the region, with more help expected to arrive in the coming days, Bazett said.
Earlier this week a lightning storm hit the region, which spans from Salmon Arm in the north to Osoyoos in the south.
The emergency operation centre in the southern part of the Okanagan region says an additional 32 properties have now been placed on evacuation order.
The centre also says 154 additional properties have been put on evacuation alert, meaning residents must leave immediately if told that the fire has gotten worse.
In the central part of the region, 727 properties are on alert and 38 are on evacuation order.
‘Thank goodness for the fire department’
Steve Oram and his family were ordered to evacuate from their home on the west shore of Okanagan Lake Wednesday night.
“It was pretty crazy,” Oram said. “We were watching the fire come up from the Peachland side and it was staying pretty stationary, and then all of a sudden the winds picked up and it just - we saw this wall of fire coming and we knew.”
The family spent basically all of Wednesday night watching from a distance as the flames approached their home.
“At one point, they were lapping up over the top of the house and we thought, ‘Oh, that’s it. It’s gone,’” he said.
In the end, though, the Oram home was not gone. Crews were somehow able to keep the home’s wooden deck from catching fire, even as the blaze came within about a metre of the structure.
Scorch marks could be seen on the law all around the property when CTV News visited on Saturday.
“Thank goodness for the fire department,” Oram said. “They did an incredible job.”
He said this was the first time in 22 years that the family has been evacuated from their home.
Flood notices elsewhere in Interior
Fire isn’t the only concern in the province’s interior these days. Farther north, B.C.’s River Forecast Centre issued two water-related notices on Saturday.
The centre issued a flood watch for the Pine River and its tributaries after 24 hours of heavy rainfall, with more rain in the forecast for the rest of the weekend.
And, in the Peace Region around Fort Saint John, the centre issued a heavy streamflow advisory, which means that river levels are rising or expected to rise rapidly, but that no major flooding is expected. Minor flooding in low-lying areas is possible.
With files from the Canadian Press
