Cooler temperatures offer slight relief for B.C. wildfire crews

Several evacuation orders have been downgraded as cooler temperatures and lighter winds offer some relief for wildfire crews in British Columbia.

Taylor Colman with the B.C. Wildfire Service says there are currently 250 wildfires burning across the province, and 29 of them are fires of note.

"On Monday, a big band of showers moved through the Interior delivering a lot of rain in a short amount of time," Colman said. "That did help cool fire behaviour temporarily. But unfortunately, it wasn't enough to extinguish many of the large wildfires."

She says the majority of blazes are still in the Kamloops region, with the White Rock Lake fire continuing to burn out of control.

Showers are expected to continue to move through the Interior and along the U.S. border on Saturday and Sunday. 

"Over the weekend, things will be cool but things will still be active," Colman said.

The area south of the Okanagan as well as the northern region, she says, can expect to see large amounts of rain on Sunday.

Colman says warmer temperatures and drier conditions are expected to return on Tuesday, but more resources will be available to assist with large fires like Sparks Lake, Tremont Creek, Lytton Creek, and White Rock Lake.

"They'll still be showing some aggressive behaviour and some growth," she said. "But the last couple of days helped crews get a handle of things."

Despite the rain, evacuation orders and alerts remain in place for many of the province's most threatening wildfires.

The nearby City of Merritt, about 300 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, had its evacuation alert rescinded on Saturday afternoon.

On Friday, evacuation orders were downgraded to alerts for more than 650 homes in the Lower Nicola area, west of Merritt. Residents there were forced to leave their homes five days ago due to the Lytton Creek wildfire.

No growth for Vancouver Island fire overnight 

Some progress has been made against new fires, such as the first significant blaze of the season on Vancouver Island.

The Cowichan Valley Regional District declared a state of local emergency covering an area west of Ladysmith after a fire was sparked Thursday. The growth of the wildfire was minimal on Friday and remained at 70 hectares, but it is still classified as out of control.

The Ministry of Forests says nearly 8,600 square kilometres has been burned by wildfires since the start of the fire season, and there are more than 3,600 firefighters battling blazes across the province.