VERNON, B.C. -- Cool and wet weather is helping crews fighting two wildfires in British Columbia.
A fire discovered Tuesday in the Okanagan, northwest of Lumby, was fanned by high winds and officials have said it charred as much as eight hectares of trees and bush in the Cooper's Mountain area.
The flames prompted the Regional District of North Okanagan to issue an evacuation alert for about 30 homes in the area Tuesday night, but the alert was lifted Wednesday after overnight rain and snow.
"With the weather conditions, some of the risks of the wind storm last night have abated," said David Sewell, who works for the regional district. "From our perspective, it's stable enough that we can lift the evacuation."
Crews were also fighting a fire southeast of Prince George, which has also been slowed by the weather, said fire information officer Amanda Reynolds.
"The incident took substantial amounts of precipitation overnight and some snowfall overnight, and it has currently reduced any significant fire behaviour," Reynolds said Wednesday.
The fire, about five kilometres east of Tete Jaune Cache, started Tuesday afternoon and has scorched an estimated two square kilometres of brush at the base of a steep slope.
Twenty-six firefighters were working on containing the flames Wednesday afternoon and they were to be joined by another 28, Reynolds said.
The fire was likely caused by a tree falling into a powerline, but Reynolds said it is classified as being human-caused because it wasn't sparked by lightning.
