The majority of people forced to flee their homes last week because of the Christie Mountain wildfire are allowed to return home.
Officials from the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen say an evacuation order for all but 74 of the 319 properties in the Heritage Hills neighbourhood east of Skaha Lake has been lifted.
“If your home is under an evacuation order, and you’re not within those 74 homes at the top portion of the Heritage Hills area, you can return home,” said Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen spokesperson Erick Thompson, adding they are hoping to lift the remaining evacuation orders Wednesday.
The RDOS has an interactive map that shows residents if they’re allowed back home or not. There has been just the one home in Heritage Hills that was destroyed by the fire.
“Every time there’s an emergency, we learn how to do things better for next time,” added RDOS Chair Karla Kozakevich.
An evacuation alert which covered 116 properties in the upper Carmi area was also rescinded today as the B.C. Wildfire Service said good weather has helped firefighters working to contain the blaze, which is now mostly a smouldering ground fire.
Dennis Rexin, deputy incident commander for the fire, said crews are making good progress toward containment and resources will be reduced soon as favourable weather conditions are expected.
As of the latest update, the fire is still listed at 2,122.50 hectares.
“The fire remains at a Rank 1 (status) with minimal growth, allowing crews to continue moving around the flanks,” noted the BC Wildfire Service, with the cause still under investigation.
There are 217 firefighters on scene today tackling the southwest flank of the fire along with 12 helicopters and four water tenders. Crews are also working on the north and east flanks, with control lines also being reinforced at Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park.
“The way progress is going, I expect there’s still going to be areas of the fire smouldering for quite some time,” Rexin said. “I expect containment to be accomplished in the very near future.”
The evacuation alert for 3,669 properties in the southeastern part of Penticton was lifted yesterday.
(Photo via the BC Wildfire Service)
