Wildfire evacuation order rescinded for more than a dozen houses in Spallumcheen, B.C.

The Township of Spallumcheen in B.C.'s North Okanagan region has lifted a Friday afternoon evacuation order for more than a dozen of properties just three hours after residents were told to leave immediately due to a wildfire.

Spallumcheen, with a population of about 5,300, issued the evacuation order at 3:15 p.m. for 18 houses located on the east side of Round Lake Road, about three kilometres from Page Road in the Grandview Flats area. 

The order was lifted at 6:30 p.m. PT on Friday evening.

The 18 properties remain on an evacuation alert and must be prepared to leave at a moment's notice, along with 16 houses on the west side of Round Lake Road placed under the alert earlier on Friday.

The orders are in response to the 3.2-hectare Horseshoe Lake wildfire, west of Otter Lake.

The evacuations come amid a spike in wildfire activity associated with lightning strikes and parched conditions across much of the province's interior.

The B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) says the Horseshoe Lake fire was caused by lightning and was discovered at about 2 p.m. Friday.

The service's information officer Taylor Shantz said that while the fire was out of control after its discovery, BCWS and local fire crews managed to contain the majority of the blaze with the help of air tankers and three helicopters through the evening.

"There has been an 80 per cent containment [boundary] set up and the fire is just being observed overnight," Shantz told CBC around 8:30 p.m. PT on Friday.

"So I think we're fairly confident heading into this evening and crews will be returning in the morning to continue with suppression activities."

The township says it has also closed the entrance to trails on Mount Rose Swanson, near Page Road, in light of the wildfire.

In the event of another evacuation order, BCWS is asking residents to go to the emergency support service centre located at the Spallumcheen township municipal hall at 4144 Spallumcheen Way.

Shantz urged residents to keep an eye out for updates from local authorities and BCWS.

Residents are being told to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

The BCWS was reporting 136 active fires in B.C. on Friday afternoon, most of them concentrated in the province's northeast. They include 36 that were sparked in the past day, including the Horseshoe Lake fire.

The service says that of the fires burning Friday, 110 were caused by lightning, 19 by human activity and seven had unknown causes.