Weeks of worry ease as alerts lift for two BC wildfires outside Kamloops, Lillooet

VANCOUVER – As British Columbia awaits an update due later today on fire, drought and flood conditions, residents in an area south of Kamloops can relax as all evacuation orders and alerts related to a nearby fire have ended.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has issued the "all clear" to residents affected by the Ross Moore Lake fire which was sparked by lightning nine weeks ago and scorched nearly 114 square kilometres before being held.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says an area restriction order covering travel through the fire zone remains in effect until at least Friday.

Recent cooler weather means the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District can also rescind all orders and alerts for the 110-square-kilometre Casper Creek blaze that was spawned by lightning on July 11 and threatened the communities of Seton Portage and Shalath, west of Lillooet, before being brought under control.

Other evacuation orders are still posted in another region west of Lillooet, where the out-of-control, 93-square-kilometre Downton Lake fire destroyed numerous homes and cabins around Gun Lake and has burned to the edge of the South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park.

The wildfire service says large fires such as the Ross Moore and Downton blazes will continue to smoulder until significant rain or snowfall, but it says no new wildfires have been sparked in the last day and the number of active blazes has fallen below 400.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2023.