An aerial view of the Martin Mountain Fire near Monte Lake on July 26.
Image Credit: TWITTER/@BCGovFireInfo
July 31, 2017 - 12:01 PM
KAMLOOPS - Residents in the Monte Lake area who were evacuated due to the Martin Mountain wildfire are being they can return home today because the 150 hectare blaze has been fully contained by firefighters.
The last few properties in the Kristianson Road area that were on evacuation order have now been downgraded to an alert meaning the residents can return home. The alerts in the Monte Lake area that were still in place until last night, July 30, have now been rescinded and the residents have been given the all clear.
Fire Information Officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service Max Birkner says less wind activity over the weekend helped in containing the fire and the forecast for this week has firefighting crews hopeful the worst is behind them.
"We're noticing that we're going to have some very high temperatures, so that is definitely a concern," he says. "Fortunately the winds are supposed to be fairly regular with no large wind events that we are expecting."
Temperatures are expected to get near the 40 degree mark later this week according to Environment Canada.
Meantime the news is not as good for residents impacted by the Elephant Hill wildfire near Ashcroft.
Due to significant wind activity on Saturday, July 29, the blaze worked its way across the Bonaparte River in some areas and the estimated size has climbed to 78,548 hectares.
As a result of the increase in size an evacuation alert has been issued for homes in the Bonaparte Plateau and Lower North Thompson regions.
While the Elephant Hill fire has destroyed several structures an estimate on the number of buildings lost is unknown at this time, however there have not been any more reports of structures being damaged as a result of the recent fire activity that caused the alert.
An information session for evacuees of the Elephant Hill fire is being held in Kamloops tonight, July 31, at 6 p.m. at the Sagebrush Theatre. In attendance tonight will be representatives from B.C. Wildfire Management Branch, the RCMP, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, the Interior Health Authority, Emergency Management B.C. and the Red Cross.
For updates on fire activity and an interactive wildfire map, go here or follow @BCGovFireInfo on Twitter.
For immediate updates and a full list of properties affected, go here or follow @TNRD on Twitter.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017