Residents in Williams Lake who were under evacuation alert due to the River Valley Wildfire can breathe a little easier July 23.
Not only has the smoke in the area cleared, but the risk to life and safety have diminished.
"Following significant progress suppressing the fire on Monday morning, July 22, by the Williams Lake Fire Department, BC Wildfire Service crews, and assisting crews, BCWS downgraded the category of the fire from ‘out of control’ to ‘held’ on Tuesday morning, July 23," stated the city in a release.
The city lifted the evacuation alert at 4 p.m.
Properties on Mackenzie Avenue from Highway to to the Jackpine Sawmill Access Road, Fairview Drive, Country Club Boulevard, Woodland Drive, Westridge Drive area, and Tolko Lakeview Sawmill were the areas under alert.
The Williams Lake River Valley is still an active emergency response area, however, said the release, and is closed to public access. Smoke may continue to be visible to the surrounding areas.
“There is a lot of work still happening down there,” said Ashley Williston, Emergency Operations Centre Deputy Director.
“Crews are working on and monitoring hot spots, and we will be continuing to monitor the area moving forward, as well as starting to conduct danger, geotechnical and environmental assessments. We can’t stress this enough: people need to stay out of the River Valley as it is not safe at this time.”
The city also thanked the 50-plus emergency responders, service organizations, assisting agencies, volunteers and local businesses helped with the emergency response.
For further information visit www.williamslake.ca or follow them on social media.
