B.C. wildfires remain relatively stable despite wind, scattered storms
Fire flare-ups caused by strong winds and thunderstorms in the forecast largely failed to materialize on Sunday, leaving many British Columbians breathing sighs of relief — but thousands are still out of their homes, and may not return for some time.
Environment Canada had forecast winds between 30 and 70 kilometres per hour in the Cariboo and Interior regions and thunderstorms in the Kootenays.
Geoff Paynton, with the City of Williams Lake, said the city is still under evacuation order, but today's weather was "good news." Still, he said the closest fire is seven kilometres away, and a large gust is all it would take to blow the fire into town.
Thousands of people from 100 Mile House, Princeton and surrounding areas were free to go home Saturday as evacuation orders were downgraded to alerts.
Princeton Mayor Frank Armitage said residents were "praying" for winds to stay low.
"It's like pouring kerosene on a fire [when winds pick up]," he said.
Officials cautioned that those people still need to be ready to leave anytime, should the alerts change back to evacuation orders.
On Friday, Williams Lake Mayor Walt Cobb was hopeful some evacuees would be able to return home later this week. He said he's more doubtful now.
"At this stage it's not looking great," he said. "We had a couple of really good days and we were all hyped up about bringing people home and then this is happening," Cobb said. "It'll be a 'wait and see' again."
Saini said there are 152 wildfires currently burning across the province. Nine were sparked on Saturday, five of which were lightning-caused.
She said winds are expected to die down on Monday.
Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park was closed on Saturday night as a "proactive measure" due to a 4,000-hectare fire in park boundaries.
To date, the province has spent more than $125.8 million fighting wildfires.
With files from Catherine Rolfsen
