(Victoria) Evacuation orders for a total of 50 properties in West Kelowna and two other wildfire zones in British Columbia were lifted Saturday and downgraded to alert status.
The lowering of evacuation orders to alert means dozens of people in the Kamloops, Shuswap and Kelowna areas can return home, but must still be ready to leave at short notice, regional firefighters said.
In a news release released Saturday afternoon, Emergency Operations in the Regional District of Central Okanagan listed the addresses of 50 properties in West Kelowna and the Westbank First Nation community where residents could return home after received an evacuation order.
“Properties in these areas were without power for several days. People affected by breakdowns are advised to discuss with their insurers what they should do with their household belongings, including spoiled food, refrigerators and freezers, before they start throwing away items. communicated.
The West Kelowna region has a curbside pickup program for used refrigerators and freezers, the release states.
There are currently 405 properties under evacuation order and 20,011 properties on alert in the West Kelowna area.
The McDougall Creek wildfire in the area remains classified as out of control and is estimated to be more than 135 square kilometers in size.
About 200 properties have been destroyed in the Kelowna-area wildfire.
Earlier Saturday, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District said in a statement that evacuation orders for 26 properties in the Kamloops and Shuswap Lake areas affected by two separate wildfires had also been downgraded to evacuation alerts .
The evacuation order changes to alert include three properties affected by the ongoing Ross Moore Lake wildfire, south of Kamloops, and 23 properties ordered evacuated by the Bush Creek East fire , indicated the regional district.
Revised evacuation orders also allowed officials to expand warning zones in the Ross Moore Lake and Bush Creek East fire zones, the regional district said.
Residents of 11 properties in the Little Shuswap Lake area have been advised to access their residences by boat due to fire damage on the local road.
About 200 homes in the Shuswap Lake area had been destroyed or significantly damaged in the Bush Creek East wildfire.
The British Columbia Wildfire Service reported 15 new wildfires in the past 24 hours, bringing the number of active fires in the province to 421.
