Prince George, B.C. – The wildfires that  have forced the closure of  Highway 97  south of Quesnel  have not  let up,   and  the Ministry of Transportation ‘s Mike Lorimer  says  it’s a day to day scenario.

Lorimer says  Ministry staff  examine the  possibility of reopening that corridor based on three  key  issues ” One,  is the highway safe from a transportation perspective?  Two, is it safe from a fire behaviour perspective? Three,  can we get  agreement with  the local  government and the RCMP that security can still be provided?”   Lorimer says with all the evacuation orders still in place,   and some  of the active fire behaviour,  those three points have not been met “I don’t think we are in a place right now to say it  could be opened, but it is something we are  working on.”

Lorimer says they assess the situation on a daily basis. “And making plans so that when we are ready, we are able to  open it as quick as possible.”

The highway  has been under  threat from  the  Soda Creek  fire  about 17 kilometers north of Williams Lake,   When that  fire  expanded on Saturday,  it cut off the northern  route  for  residents of Williams Lake,  and the decision was made to  send  Williams Lake evacuees  south on 97 to  24,   east on 24 to Little Fort,  and then south to Kamloops on highway 5.

Drive BC  is expected to provide  its next update  at noon today.