The Regional District of Central Kootenay says residents living in an area near the Bulldog Mountain wildfire can return home, but will remain on evacuation alert.
The RDCK reduced an evacuation Order to an Alert on Monday afternoon for part of the fire zone, The fire is burning north of Castlegar near the west shore of Arrow Lake.
The area includes the community of Brooklyn and all properties to the south-east to Shields Point. This reduction to an Alert means residents can return to their properties but must be prepared to leave should conditions change.
Residents were first ordered out of the area on August 22.
The Evacuation Order remains in effect for the area north-west of Brooklyn, including Renata.
“The BC Wildfire Service has advised that imminent danger to the life and property of persons from wildfire in the area has diminished at this time,” said Chris Johnson, the RDCK Emergency Operations Centre Director. “While the Evacuation Order has been rescinded, residents and visitors should remain prepared to evacuate if required. We will continue to monitor the situation and advise if anything changes for those under Evacuation Order or Alert.”
The fire was discovered on August 11 and is almost 1,600 hectares in size.
The wildfire servcie says it has 27 firefighters, four helicopters and four pieces of heavy equipment fighting the fire. It says helicopters will be putting water on the blaze today.
“Crews have made excellent progress on extinguishing hot spots along the eastern guard,” BCWS states. “Crews also worked on monitoring and extinguishing hot spots on the guard on the west side of the fire. Burn off operations were completed on the west. Great progress was made on the south perimeter. Crews tied in machine and hand guards to existing roads.”
The RDCK will use the Dedicated Emergency Text List for Renata to inform those who have already signed up for critical updates. People affected by the Evacuation Order can text RENATA to 778-400-1771 to be added to a Dedicated Emergency Text List.
The RDCK EOC will use this list to send specific instructions to those who have signed up. Instructions could include information like where evacuees should register, where emergency social services are available, or if there is a change or if an evacuation order is lifted. This is a text-only service.