Unstable Weather Blamed for Continued Evac Order for Williams Lake
Prince George, B.C. – Emergency Management B.C.’s Chris Duffy says while there has been discussion about getting Williams Lake residents back to their community, it all depends on the weather.
“There ‘s discussion, as of this morning, looking towards this week some time, hopefully early to mid week” says Duffy “but again that’s driven by fire safety and the processes being in place from a re-entry perspective to make sure that there is a safe, orderly return.”
Navi Saini, of the B.C. Wildfire Service, says there is no set time for a lifting of the evacuation order “It really does depend on fire activity and the weather. We are continuing to monitor the weather to see what we can expect, however right now, it’s instability, no soaking rain event is expected for at least the next 4 to 5 days. We are anticipating more winds in the Cariboo region on Thursday and Wednesday combined with thundershowers. We’ll just be waiting to see what the weather forecast brings.”
The two fires causing the most concern around Williams Lake are the White Lake fire, which is 10% contained and the Wildwood fire where crews continue to work on developing guards around that fire.
There is also no positive news on the potential reopening of Highway 97 south of Quesnel. The Ministry of Transportation says it knows everyone wants the highway reopened, but that the safety of all parties and security “remains paramount”.
Despite heavy winds yesterday, firefighting crews were able to make progress
Gustafsen fire is 100% contained, and is being held.
Hanceville/Riske Creek fire is 45% contained.
Elephant Hill is 30% contained. The winds yesterday caused some aggressive behaviour, but there were only 2 minor escapes which are being dealt with.
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