Residents of the community of Tumbler Ridge will soon be back in their homes as the evacuation order has been downgraded to an alert.
Tumbler Ridge has roughly 2,400 community members who have been evacuated due to the out-of-control West Kiskatinaw River wildfire.
“I am happy to say we can have our residents back in town,“ Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka told Global News Thursday.
According to the District of Tumbler Ridge, the alert will remain in place indefinitely and residents are urged to stay prepared in case another order is issued.
Krakowka said although he is relieved that residents are allowed to return to their homes, but also is warning that the threat is not over.
“The fire is still around four kilometres from Tumbler, there is still a risk,” he said.
“We have downgraded to an alert, we still have a chance it could be upgraded (again). We have to be patient with the weather and know the guys, the firefighters are doing all they can.”
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Highway 52 N (Heritage Highway) from Dawson Creek is considered safe and reopened and Highway 52 E is open from Kelly Lake to Tumbler Ridge.
The Bear Hole Lake area restriction order is still in effect in the South Peace fire complex area.
The nearby West Kiskatinaw River is an estimated 25,095 hectares and is still burning out of control.
The BC Wildfire Service reports that Wednesday’s rainfall is expected to reduce fire behaviour over the next couple of days.
“We haven’t seen any growth from the fire towards Tumbler Ridge since Friday,” Forrest Towers said, a fire information officer.
“We are seeing westerly winds pushing the fire east (away from Tumbler Ridge), although fire growth has been minimal.”
Towers said forecasters are keeping a close eye on projected winds, which are expected to continue to blow east.
“For the last couple of days, we’ve had really good firefighting weather which has allowed us to get really close to the west flank of the fire,” Tower said.
“We’ve had a big break in the weather which is really favourable for the west flank and that is why the order has been downgraded.”
Ground crews continue to work on the west flank along Bearhole Lake Road and the West Kiskatinaw Forest Service Road.
Around 100 firefighters and nine helicopters remain the area, conducting operations.
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