Fort St. John Mayor Lilla Hansen says the community is breathing a sigh of relief after their evacuation alert was rescinded for all properties today (Wednesday).
Hansen told Vista Radio the alert was first put into place on Monday as a precautionary measure.
“We had to wait until we had proper mapping and direction from the BC Wildfire Service and thank goodness – we looked at the trajectory of the fire and Fort St. John is not in imminent danger so we were able to rescind it.”
“When I came out of the fire department Monday afternoon the weather had changed so dramatically. Those strong gusts of wind really whipped things up, the smoke was coming into town and our sky was so dark. I tell you, when I woke up Tuesday and looked out my front window to see those blue skies it was like somebody’s prayers were being listened to.”
Hansen added with the alert now gone, they can go back to assisting anyone from the Peace Region who is staying in the city.
“Fort Saint John will be able to reopen its ESS Centre. We have already helped close to 600 people at our centre and if there is anything we can do to help support our neighbors we are definitely glad to help.”
Residents can safely resume everyday activities within the community.
In addition, the Peace River Regional District has reduced the Evacuation Order area for the Red Creek and Stoddart Creek wildfires.
The City of Fort St. John has rescinded the evacuation alert for all properties within the city of Fort St. John. Residents are no longer on evacuation alert and can safely resume everyday activities in our community.
Learn more: https://t.co/kHq3Qu5ImB pic.twitter.com/mis7jdzEmm— City of Fort St John (@fortstjohn) May 17, 2023