The Villages of Ashcroft and Cache Creek have rescinded evacuation alerts that were put in place in the wake of the Shetland Creek wildfire.

The alerts were rescinded as of 3:30 p.m. on Thursday (July 25). They were put in place on Friday, July 19 due to the rapid spread of the Shetland Creek fire, which started near Spences Bridge on July 12 and grew from just under 300 hectares to 5,000 hectares in a matter of hours on July 17, when it tore through the Saranagati Village community at Venables Valley.

The 80 residents of the community were able to evacuate safely, but a preliminary assessment on July 21 showed that around 20 structures had been lost, including six primary residences.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District is arranging a community re-entry event for Venables residents as soon as it is safe to do so. The regional district has also organized and coordinated a training session for around a dozen Venables residents to receive S100/S185 BC Wildfire Service training, so that they can assist the community in coming days.

An evacuation order for a portion of the Village of Ashcroft along Highway 1 remains in place, but officials are monitoring the situation to see when it can be downgraded to an evacuation alert. The area that remains on order includes the Ashcroft Ranch, and the closest buildings to the fire within village limits are some 7.5 kilometres away from where the fire is burning near Oregon Jack Road.

Evacuation alerts and orders put in place by the Cook's Ferry, Oregon Jack, and Ashcroft Bands remain in place for the time being.

The area of most concern remains the southeast corner of the fire, which as of Thursday was mapped at 22,476.6 hectares. On Wednesday there was increased fire activity behind Arthur's Seat Mountain southwest of the community of Spences Bridge, which is not under threat, although smoke in the area is intense, and highly visible from as far away as Lytton. Fire crews have been constructing a guard along Murray Creek to the west of Spences Bridge, to slow the rate of the fire's spread.

As of Thursday there were 170 firefighters responding to the incident, along with 50 structure protection personnel. Twelve helicopters and 34 pieces of heavy equipment were assigned to the Shetland Creek fire. For more information go to the .

Highway 1 remains open between Spences Bridge and Ashcroft, but a travel advisory is in place. Motorists should be aware that the highway could close suddenly and without notice. For highway conditions and closures, go to .