Photo: File photo

There have been no significant changes on fires in the B.C. Interior according to BC Wildfire officials.

UPDATE 1:40 p.m.

As opposed to the chaos of leaving, no problems have been reported as people return to their homes in Princeton following a wildfire evacuation order.

Dawn Roberts, with the RCMP, said additional officers have been brought in to assist local police and Highway 5A remains closed except for those returning to their homes.

Navie Saini, fire information officer with the Kamloops Fire Centre, said the Princeton fire is 100 per cent contained and crews are now “turning toward mop up.”

There are still 161 fires burning in the province, including 14 new fires since yesterday.

Of the new fires, 13 were caused by lightning and one was human caused. They are not currently threatening any communities.

Chris Duffy, with Emergency Management B.C., said 44,000 evacuees have registered with the Red Cross and 52 evacuation orders remain in place as do the 39 evacuation alerts.

“It's a very dynamic and fluid situation, but there has been very good progress over the past few days,” said Duffy, adding BC Hydro has restored power to 44,000 homes.

Saini said while fire activity has slowed, there are some concerns about predicted winds this weekend.

“The winds are something we will continue to monitor. Winds could lead to increased fire behaviour. We did see some rainfall this week, but a lot of the larger fires we are dealing with in the Cariboo saw little or no rainfall,” she said, adding there is still a lot of summer to come before the fire threat eases.

“It is very early in the fire season to have seen the level of activity we have had in the last couple of weeks. We are encouraging people to be very cautious in the back woods. There is a hot dry summer ahead of us.”

No news is good news.

There have been no significant changes on fires in the B.C. Interior according to BC Wildfire officials.

Navie Saini, fire information officer with the Kamloops Fire Centre, said there has been no changes in fire actvity since yesterday.

Mother Nature is also helping the cause in some areas.

Saini said some areas of the Cariboo region received up to 15 mm of rain earlier this week, but other areas were missed altogether.

Thousands of people remain on evacuation alert, with many of them hunkering down in the Okanagan. Some evacuation orders have been reduced to alerts, allowing people to return home.

According to the Salvation Army, the charitable organization has served more than 80,000 meals, drinks and snacks as of July 20.