Residents of B.C.'s Shuswap region set to find out if their properties survived wildfire

The latest on the wildfires:

Residents of the Shuswap region in British Columbia's southern Interior are due to learn about the condition of their properties affected by a devastating wildfire.

Derek Sutherland, director of the emergency operations centre for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, said staff will call residents to talk about next steps starting Monday.

The estimated number of properties destroyed by the Bush Creek East wildfire is unchanged at 131, he said, with another 37 sustaining damage.

The district is planning to open a resiliency centre in Salmon Arm, B.C. — around 70 kilometres east of Kamloops — to support displaced residents "now and well into the future,'' Sutherland said at a Sunday afternoon briefing.

B.C. Hydro personnel are working to replace toppled poles, he said, but it will be several more days before it becomes clear when power might be restored for many in the area affected by the 430-square-kilometre blaze.

When asked what parents and students can expect for the return to classes this fall, Sutherland said officials are discussing plans with the local school district.

Mike McCulley, an information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service, told the briefing Sunday that crews are focusing efforts on the perimeter of the fire west of Sorrento — around 20 kilometres north of Salmon Arm — as well as in the Lee Creek and Magna Bay areas on the north side of Shuswap Lake and around Adams Lake further northwest.

While Monday is set to bring temperatures nearing 30 C, cooler weather is expected Tuesday along with some rain, which would be "great news,'' McCulley said.

The regional district is working with residents who are interested in responding to wildfires to provide them with safety training, Sutherland added.

Anyone who has signed up to work with the B.C. Wildfire Service is being provided with food, gas and water, McCulley said.

In the Okanagan Valley, meanwhile, the wildfire service said the West Kelowna Fire Department is returning to "normal day-to-day operations,'' 10 days after a fast-moving wildfire forced thousands in the area to flee their homes. The blaze went on to destroy more than 170 structures in the area.

An additional 1,800 people were able to return home over the weekend as evacuation orders in communities on both sides of Okanagan Lake were lifted, it said.