Village of Cache Creek evacuation order to be lifted

Jul 17, 2017 | 2:53 PM

CACHE CREEK, B.C. — It’s the news Cache Creek residents have been waiting for.

The TNRD says residents will be able to return home as of tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.

Emergency Operations Centre Communications Officer Debbie Sell says the massive Ashcroft Reserve fire remains active, but no longer poses a significant risk to Cache Creek.

“That’s really good news. That allows people to return home to their properties in the Village of Cache Creek. However, that does not mean the threat is completely gone. The village does remain on an evacuation alert,” said Sell.

“While it is great news that they are able to return home, they do need to remain vigilant and stay informed with what is happening. Everything is unpredictable, and they could be required to leave at a moment’s notice.” 

The Ashcroft Reserve fire began on July 6, and Cache Creek was evacuated the next day.

While the blaze has rampaged north through Loon Lake toward Clinton, Sell says Cache Creek appears to be out of the crosshairs.

“The direction of travel currently for the fire has moved it into a different direction. The assessment that was made on the ground by the incident commander indicated that the residents in that area could return home safely.”

Approximately 1000 residents were affected by the initial evacuation.

While not all of them are staying in Kamloops, Sell says having a large number of people leave the city’s facilities will greatly ease the burden on local resources.

“With that number of people returning home — and we expect that they will probably want to return home as quickly as possible — that will definitely ease some of the load of the people staying at Sandman Centre and up at TRU.”