The City of Kamloops has rescinded the evacuation alert for the neighbourhoods of Campbell Creek, Dallas, and Barnhartvale.

City staff say it comes on the recommendation of the BC Wildfire Service as the White Rock Lake fire no longer poses an imminent risk to the safety of residents within City limits.

This alert was put in place just before 10 p.m. on Thursday, August 5, affecting about 8,000 residents in 2,567 properties.

“The City of Kamloops Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) will continue to monitor the situation and should conditions change, an Evacuation Alert and/or Evacuation Order could be reinstated or issued,” the City said, in a statement.

Residents are being encouraged to download the Voyent Alert app and to sign up with a TNRD account so they can be notified in the event of an emergency.

Meanwhile, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District has also downgraded an evacuation order for 220 properties in the Barnhartvale and Monte Creek area to an evacuation alert:

• 2 and 10 Barnhartvale Rd;
• 515 and 525 Barnhartvale Rd;
• 1044 to 2912 Barnhartvale Rd;
• 9760 and 9940 Barnhartvale Rd;
• 1524 to 1659 Bostock Rd;
• 3461 to 5165 Campbell Range Rd;
• 956 to 2160 Dallas Dr;
• 4545 to 4585 Demarni Rd;
• 3941 Duck Range Rd;
• 3342 to 3625 Garrett Rd;
• 4080 to 4195 Gowan Rd;
• 2881 and 2930 Hanna Rd;
• 9052 to 9710 Hidden Vale Ranch Rd;
• 1257 to 2547 Hook Rd;
• 2600 to 2933 Hwy 97;
• 1677 to 1685 Lute Rd;
• 4620 Martinson Rd;
• 2412 to 2776 Miners Bluff Rd;
• 1534 to 1760 Monte Creek Rd;
• 4705 Moore-Richardson Rd;
• 2280 to 2973 Robbins Creek Rd;
• 1996 to 6080 Robbins Range Rd;
• 7160 and 7200 Roche Lake Rd;
• 4845 Sinclair Rd;
• 7000 Smith Lake FSR;
• 1121 to 1655 Watson-Larson Rd; and
• any other properties identified on the attached map.

However, an evacuation order remains in place for the following 86 properties:

• 3864 to 4745 Chase-Falkland Rd;
• 6265 to 6325 Eden Rd;
• 6828 to 6910 Faulk Rd;
• 3011 to 3375 Hwy 97;
• 6459 to 6780 Karjula Rd;
• 3880 to 3946 Maddox Rd;
• 6725 to 6888 Martin Prairie Rd;
• 4139 to 4523 Moser Rd;
• 5723 to 6940 Paxton Valley Rd;
• 5209 Six Mile Creek Rd; and
• any other properties identified on the attached map.

As well, evacuation alerts have been rescinded for 177 properties south of Kamloops city limits and north of Roche Lake Park as follows:

•  1005 and 1009 Barnhartvale Rd;
• 9015 to 9180 Barnhartvale Rd;
• 1542 to 1655 Beresford Rd;
• 3048 to 6900 Campbell Creek Rd;
• 350 to 428 Dallas Dr;
• 856 to 865 Dallas Dr;
• 4250 Davidson Rd;
• 2200 to 3400 Deleeuw Rd;
• 470 to 736 Durango Dr;
• 2674 to 5236 Hwy 5A;
• 2816 to 2893 Orton Rd;
• 2628 to 3180 Rose Hill Rd;
• 3180 and 4288 Scott Dr;
• 3240 to 4480 Separation Rd;
• 1450 and 1451 Sonora Rd; and
• any properties with the boundary outlined on the attached map.

As of publishing, residents in Pritchard, Westwold, Falkland, and Monte Lake remain on evacuation order as before.

For the latest on evacuation orders and alerts in the TNRD, go here.

Rain helped crews but more hot and dry weather expected Monday

White Rock Lake Fire Incident commander, Scott Rennick, says more progress has been made thanks to some rain over the weekend, but he notes it is not enough.

“Relatively negligible, so we will have a couple days reprieve to catch our breath, but we will start seeing drying occurring as of Monday or Tuesday and the fire will become more and more active and continue drying,” he said.

Rennick notes the White Rock Lake fire now covers about 550 square kilometres – or 55,000 hectares –  adding it’s going to take a lot more than a few millimetres of rain to make a difference.

“We are resourcing accordingly. The structure protection branch is being continually ramped up with more and more resources daily,” he added.

“We’re getting more crews, more helicopters and more heavy equipment as we look at how to contain this fire and how to successfully supress it.”

– With files from Marcella Bernardo, News1130