More B.C. evacuees returning home Saturday, but told to prepare for changes
Residents are advised to take precautions when they return home, including sanitizing their fridges as they clear out spoiled food, and to assess trees and property for damages.
In the British Columbia village of Clinton, residents are set to resume their lives as evacuation orders are being reduced to alerts following the Pear Lake and Fiftynine Creek wildfires. As of 8 a.m., approximately 373 properties, including Clinton-Pavillion Road and sections of Highway 97, are now permitted to return home. Emergency officials emphasize that the downgrade only partially lifts the evacuation status, as other areas, such as Big Bar Lake and Beaverdam Lake, remain under orders due to the ongoing threat from the Pear Lake wildfire.
Despite the easing of evacuation orders, Mayor Roland Stanke warned residents in a YouTube update that they are returning to a community profoundly impacted. Services that residents typically rely on may be limited or unavailable, and the threat of additional fires looms large. Clinton's return follows a day after Peachland and surrounding areas began their own return process, after their evacuation orders were similarly downgraded to alerts by 6 p.m. Friday.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District provided guidance to its residents on re-entry, noting that the Pear Lake fire, which prompted the Clinton evacuation, remains the province's largest, covering an estimated 1,574 square kilometers as of Friday night. Thousands of residents continue to be displaced, with 45 separate evacuation orders issued across various fires burning in southern British Columbia.
B.C.'s fire season began rapidly, with 400 structures already destroyed, including about 230 homes on the Okanagan Indian Band reserve that were lost in the Bradley Creek wildfire.
Written by urgent.news from Global News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
