Rubble and ash can be seen in the Boston Flats trailer park on July 11, 2017 after the Elephant Hill fire tore through it.

(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - Residents in the Clinton and Cache Creek areas evacuated by the Elephant Hill wildfire will be allowed home today as evacuation orders are lifted.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District says in a news release that although the Elephant Hill Fire, which started near Ashcroft last month, is still active and burning out of control, the imminent threat has been lessend to the point residents who live north of Cache Creek up to and including the Village of Clinton and some areas north can return to their homes at 4 p.m. today, Aug. 15.

This includes people who were on evacuation order along the Highway 97 and Highway 99 corridors.

In a map available here, the Regional District shows where evacuation orders have been downgraded to alerts, which includes the entire Village of Clinton. A list of addresses downgraded from order to alert can also be found there.

There will be checkpoints in place on roads leading into the areas until the evacuation order is lifted this afternoon. The Regional District asks for travel in the areas to be limited to local traffic in the Highwya 97 and Highway 99 corridors to reduce congestions for those waiting to return home.

Although the order has been downgraded, the areas will still be on evacuation alert and need to be prepared.

"While the Elephant Hill fire continues to remain active, residents must be prepared to leave at any time," officials say. "Should it be necessary to re-issue an evacuation order for this area, residents will be given as much advance warning as possible prior to an evacuation, however they may receive limited notice due to changing conditions."

Go here for the Regional District's information for evacuated residents returning home. Residents returning to their homes have the option of accessing the booklet online or receiving a printed copy at the RCMP checkpoints as they re-enter the area.

The community halls in Clinton and Cache Creek will be open tonight for residents to access clean-up kits from the Canadian Red Cross. Clinton's hall will be open until 7 p.m. and Cache Creek's will be open until 5 p.m.

— This story was updated at 8:31 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017 to clarify the headline to say some residents were returning home.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ashley Legassic or call 250-319-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2017