©BCWildfireService

A number of evacuation orders issued in B.C.’s Okanagan region due to a wildfire near Peachland have been lifted, as the community’s mayor says conditions appear to be easing. …Evacuation orders were issued for around 400 properties in the area on Wednesday, but that number was down to 118 on Thursday, said Brittany Seibert, regional emergency manager with the Central Okanagan Regional District. The region says properties no longer under an evacuation order will join about 225 properties that are under an evacuation alert, which means residents must be ready to leave their home at a moment’s notice, according to the Central Okanagan Regional District. Van Minsel said the Drought Hill wildfire is on the north side of his hillside community, burning between Peachland and Kelowna. The fire is covering an area of about 27 hectares, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service’s latest measure. The mayor himself was evacuated yesterday.