UPDATED B.C. wildfires: Most Princeton-area evacuees returning home

Many people living in the Princeton area are being allowed to return to their homes Saturday morning, now that the nearby wildfire is fully contained.

The fire spans 3,300-hectares and is located about 10 kilometres north of the town.

In a news released issued on Friday night, the emergency operations centre for the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) said that most mandatory evacuation orders near Princeton would be lifted at 10 a.m.

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Anyone who has a clearance letter from the regional district will be allowed to return to homes that are located north of Summers Creek Rd.

However, an evacuation order will remain in effect for 17 homes that are located along the southern end of Summers Creek Rd., officials with the regional district added.

The reason that this order will remain in place is that there’s still a risk from the potential of falling trees and unstable rock slopes due to wildfire.

READ MORE: B.C. wildfire status Wednesday: an emotional homecoming for some evacuees

In total, 587 properties will be on an “advisory evacuation alert,” the RDOS said.

The regional district expects that Highway 5A will reopen on Monday at 10 a.m.

Residents can obtain their clearance letters from a reception centre located at 148 Old Hedley Road. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Here’s a map showing evacuation orders and alerts:

View image in full screen

The Missezula Lake area, which has 199 cabins and homes, will be downgraded from an evacuation order to an alert at 10 a.m. on Saturday; access there will only be available via logging roads that can be accessed north of the community, said the RDOS.

Residents there will not be able to use Summers Creek Road.