An evacuation order for the Alexis Creek to Riske Creek area has been downgraded to an alert as of Tuesday afternoon.
With the change Highway 20 has also been re-opened westbound from Riske Creek to Hanceville.
On Saturday evening, Aug. 12 the order and highway closure were announced as high winds increased activity on the the Hanceville-Riske Creek fire, which by Monday had grown to 219,079 hectares.
Earlier Tuesday, Cariboo Regional District Chair Al Richmond said conditions have cooled enough to make people feel more comfortable about lifting orders in some of the evacuation zones.
“We are happy about being able to make these announcements,” he said.
Speaking from the Punzti Camp Tuesday afternoon, fire information officer Marg Drysdale said it’s been good to have the cooler temperatures.
“The Hanceville-Riske Creek fire has been fairly static for today and yesterday for building hand guard and machine guard,” said fire information officer Marg Drysdale from the Riske Creek Camp Tuesday.
Crews are working along Highway 20 to protect structures so people can come and go safely, she added.
“There were cattle on the roadway today by Hanceville,” Drysdale said.
Today there are 346 firefighters, 64 pieces of heavy equipment, 14 helicopters, an incident management team and support staff tasked on the fire.
The work in the next few weeks will be “fairly routine,” as crews build guards.
“We also will have some assessors working on danger trees south of the fire on the Taseko Lake Road so we are asking the public to be very cautious when driving by. We also have some hot spots so we really need people to slow down around crews and equipment.”
Highway 20 remains closed eastbound from Carbould Drive 59.5 kilometres east of Bella Coola due to wildfires.
Before deciding to return, residents are encouraged to consider that wildfire activity continues in these areas, air quality remains poor and the areas are still on evacuation alert. They must also be prepared to leave within 30 minutes if put on evacuation alert again.