The exodus is over for more people evacuated from their homes because of the Philpott Road wildfire burning east of Kelowna.
The Evacuation Order has been downgraded to an Evacuation Alert for residents of 17 properties on Philpott Road.
Central Okanagan Emergency Operations says there’s the possibility remaining evacuated residents will be escorted to their homes this weekend to retrieve items needed for the long weekend and the start of school Tuesday.
Eighteen properties remain on Evacuation Order.
Ninety firefighters continue working the wildfire with good progress reported overnight Thursday.
But it’s still 30 per cent contained at 465 hectares.
And the provincial government has shut down recreational use of Crown land in a large area in the vicinity for public safety and fire fighting reasons.
Under the area restriction order a person must not remain in or enter the Philpott Road/Highway 33 wildfire restricted area without the prior written authorization of an official designated for the purposes of the Wildfire Act, unless the person enters the area only in the course of:
-travelling to or from his or her principal residence that is not under an evacuation order;
-travelling to or from leased property for the purpose of accessing a secondary residence or recreational property;
-travelling as a person acting in an official capacity; and
-travelling for the purpose of supporting wildfire suppression activities.
It’s expected the order will remain in place until September 15th.