What you need to know about the BC wildfires for August 18

A significant increase in fire activity over the weekend due to gusts of wind created difficult conditions for firefighters. Rain, cooler temperatures and relatively high humidity in parts of the interior of British Columbia reduced fire behavior in the short term, but the amount of rain received in many areas was not sufficient to have a lasting effect on fires because deep layers in the soil are still dry.

More rain is forecast for the southern interior over the weekend.

Smoke cleared across parts of the interior of British Columbia on Tuesday. In Kamloops, the air was the purest it had been since last Wednesday.

The air quality declarations are still in effect for most of the southern interior.

The White Rock Lake fire, which destroyed dozens of homes, is currently estimated to be around 782 square kilometers.

BCWildfire Services’ Forrest Tower information officer said the White Rock Lake fire is unlikely to be fully extinguished until fall or winter, when natural processes can put it out.

The recent rain brought some instability to the wildfire-ravaged Lytton area, triggering a mudslide that forced the closure of Highway 1 between Cache Creek and Lytton. The highway has been closed since Wednesday morning. The following Update DriveBC is expected at 8:00 a.m. PT.

Several evacuation orders and alerts were downgraded on Tuesday, including 166 properties in Cherry Creek, about 28 kilometers west of Kamloops, where the Tremont Creek wildfire had previously threatened homes.

The city of Kamloopscanceled an evacuation alertwhich was in place for the western part of town on Tuesday morning.

The Central Okanagan Regional District says crews have made substantial progress in fighting the MountLaw fire outside of West Kelowna, where a structure was extensively damaged as well as a previously damaged outbuilding.

The regional district says evacuation orders related to the fire, last measured at around eight square kilometers, have been partially downgraded and most residents have been allowed to return home, with the exception of 17 properties on the outskirts of the Glenrosa district.

At approximately 4:30 p.m. PT on Tuesday, 8,262 properties in British Columbia were on evacuation orders, while residents of nearly 23,000 properties were told to be ready to leave at any time.

The British Columbia government has extended the provincial state of emergency until the end of August to better support people forced to flee their homes due to wildfires.

Anyone placed under an evacuation order must leave the area immediately.

Evacuation centers have been set up across the province to help anyone evacuate a community threatened by a forest fire.

To find the center closest to you, visitEmergency management B.C..website.

Evacuees are encouraged to register withEmergency assistance servicesonline, whether or not they access the services of an evacuation center.

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