Evacuation order lifted for Olalla, but more thunderstorms spark B.C. fire fears

Residents of another wildfire-threatened Okanagan community were given the all clear to return home Thursday, but officials across Southern B.C. remained on high alert amid another wave of thunderstorms.

The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS) rescinded an evacuation order for the community of Olalla, B.C., near where the 6.7-square kilometre Keremeos Creek wildfire continues to burn out of control.

“This has been a bit of a phased approach to getting people home, and part of that has to do with how large this fire is,” B.C. Wildfire Service fire information officer Mikhail Elsay told Global News.

“We were able to secure a certain chunk of perimeter over the last couple of days and we’re working to get the next chunk of ground secured as soon as possible. When we get that secured we’ll be able to hopefully recommend more rescinds.”

Another 273 homes remain under an evacuation order, and 399 properties remain under an evacuation alert due to the fire.

Highway 3A remained closed to through traffic.

As of Thursday, B.C. crews were fighting 71 active fires, most of them in the southern and central Interior.

Environment Canada issued special air quality advisories for the central, north and south Okanagan regions due to wildfire smoke.

A parade of thunderstorms across the southern reaches of the province continued to drive wildfire risk on Thursday. Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch for a large swath of the Interior.

The province recorded an estimated 1,200 lightning strikes on Tuesday.

“The challenges we’re tracking today is again, we’ve got another lightning storm coming in today and probably again tomorrow,” Elsay said. “It’s definitely going to come with lightning and some erratic winds.”

The wildfire service said it had distributed crews on a “high initial attack readiness” across the affected regions.

Two unit crews from Alberta also arrived Wednesday night to assist.