Wildfire evacuation order lifted in the Peace
'This situation could have been a lot worse' says regional district after one fire shaded another
An evacuation order has been rescinded for a rural area north of Fort St. John affected by the Beatton Airport Road fire.
Evacuees from the Blueberry River First Nations and Electoral Area B of the Peace River Regional District can now return home, the district announced Wednesday afternoon.
Two evacuation alerts remains in place in the region, due to the Beatton Airport Road and Siphon Creek fires.
"We have been very lucky," said fire information officer Hailey Williams.
Smoke from another fire to the north shaded the fire, lowering temperatures, trapping humidity and making the fire less intense, Williams said.
This was the second time this month that wildfires in the region about 40 kilometres north of Fort St. John have caused people to leave their homes behind.
Williams said the evacuation order over the weekend was issued because of "extreme fire conditions" that included hot and dry weather, very low humidity and a forecast of winds up to 60 km/h.
"In that type of event, the fire is very unpredictable. It travels fast and the conditions are very dangerous," Williams said.
"Now we've got some precipitation moving in this evening. Temperatures have dropped, the relative humidity is higher and we're not expecting such extreme behaviour anymore."
Williams said fire officers are expecting a lot of rain over the next few days. However, she reminded residents to be cautious over the long weekend and keep track of the weather.
With files from Andrew Kurjata and Lisa Johnson