VANCOUVER 鈥� Cooler weather and light rain in parts of British Columbia provided some relief for firefighters on Saturday, prompting officials to downgrade fire danger ratings in some parts of the province.
Navi Saini of the B.C. Wildfire Management Branch said much of the northern and central areas of the province have lowered their ratings to low or moderate.
But Saini said many areas in southern B.C. still have ratings of high to extreme, which means new fires will start easily and spread quickly.
About 200 firefighters from Eastern Canada were expected to arrive this weekend to help fight fires, with some due to arrive Saturday in Prince George.
A total of 159 fires are blazing across the province.
Ten evacuation orders or alerts are in effect, the largest being at Smith Creek, near West Kelowna, where 2,500 people have been asked to leave their homes.
Jason Luciw of the Central Okanagan Regional District Emergency Operations Centre said the Smith Creek order is expected to stay in place for the immediate future.
鈥淯ntil we get a handle on the fire and we鈥檙e comfortable where it鈥檚 at, we have to keep the orders in place,鈥� Luciw said. 鈥淩CMP are patrolling the area and blockading the area to make sure that the area is properly evacuated.鈥�
Displaced people have been asked to stay with friends and family, and those who have nowhere to go have been issued hotel passes, he said.
Some people have contacted emergency services to offer their homes for evacuees to stay in, Luciw said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really encouraging to see how the community steps up and offers to help in a situation like this,鈥� he said.
Tracy Wynnyk, the fire information officer for the area, said the Smith Creek fire has been 30聽per cent contained, up from 20聽per cent on Friday.
鈥淩ight now, things are looking really good,鈥� she said.
She said higher humidity and cooler weather have stopped the 2.5-square-kilometre blaze from spreading.
There has not been much rain, she said.
The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre said there is a reduced risk of power lines being cut by the fire, though residents are being urged to be prepared for an outage.
Pushed by howling, erratic winds, a massive wildfire in north-central Washington state was growing rapidly and burning in new directions Saturday.
Road closures and evacuations were changing rapidly, as hot weather and winds with gusts up to 48 km/h were pushing the fire over ridge tops and toward a cluster of small towns northeast of Seattle.
鈥淭his is a very active and fluid situation,鈥� fire spokesman Chuck Turey said.
As of Saturday morning, the lightning-caused fire had scorched 870 square kilometres in the scenic Methow Valley. The fire was measured at 673 square kilometres on Friday.
People living between Carlton and Pateros have been told to leave their homes.
Officials said there are no reports of serious injuries, and only one more structure was destroyed overnight by the wildfire.
The fire has calmed down near Pateros, where it destroyed about 100 homes on Thursday and Friday, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just starting to run out of places to burn,鈥� he said.
Gov. Jay Inslee said about 50聽fires were burning in Washington state, which has been wracked by hot, dry weather, gusting winds and lightning. About 2,000 firefighters were working in the eastern part of the state, with about a dozen helicopters from the Department of Natural Resources and the National Guard, along with a Washington State Patrol spotter plane.
鈥� With a file from The Associated Press.
