The BC Wildfire Service says the White Rock Lake fire between Kamloops and Vernon is now considered as being held.

That means the 833 square kilometre fire is not expected to spread beyond pre-determined containment lines, given the “significant efforts of firefighters as well as provincial, First Nation, national, and international partner agencies.”

“Over the last 52 days, firefighters and support personnel from around the world have maintained response efforts on the White Rock Lake wildfire,” the BC Wildfire Service said, in a statement. “Managing a wildfire of this size and complexity requires the skill and knowledge of many people.”

They say at its peak, the fire camp in Vernon housed over 500 people directly engaged in wildfire response.

“The BC Wildfire Service thanks the commitment of heavy equipment operators, helicopter pilots, camp kitchen operators, facility managers, incident support staff, security staff, among countless others, to keep firefighters supported on the ground,” the statement added.

While the status has been changed, the BC Wildfire Service says there is still a considerable amount of work to be done on the fire before it is extinguished,

“[We] will remain engaged in wildfire suppression efforts until there is no risk of impact to public health, critical infrastructure, property, or environmental, economic and social values,” the statement said.

The lightning caused fire was discovered on July 13 before eventually growing to its current size fuelled by drought conditions as well as hot, dry, and windy weather. Four weeks ago, on August 5, the fire caused considerable damage to the communities of Monte Lake and Paxton Valley.

In total, at least 32 homes, two seasonal properties, and two commercial structures in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District were destroyed by this fire.  There were other structures lost in the North and Central Okanagan, outside of TNRD boundaries.

“Earlier this week, the BC Wildfire Service recommended to local authorities that evacuation orders and alerts around the White Rock Lake wildfire may be downgraded due to minimal wildfire risk,” the BC Wildfire Service said. “As a result, many of the evacuation orders and alerts have been rescinded.”

That includes 366 properties in Monte Lake, Paxton Valley, and Westwold that were given the all clear, southeast of Kamloops on Thursday morning.

The response to the White Rock Lake fire was not without criticism. Local ranchers told NL News last month they were not allowed to fight the White Rock Lake fire the day it broke out. B.C.’s Deputy Forest Minister, Rick Manwaring, defended the response, saying the fire was showing “aggressive fire behaviour” from the outset.

“Our first initial attack crew arrived within 30 minutes [on July 13], and this is pretty standard expectation,” he said on August 10. “Upon the initial report of this fire, it was already displaying what we call rank four fire behaviour, and this is very aggressive fire behaviour for a new start, or an initial attack fire.”

“We don’t put people in front of rank four fires. What we do is make recommendations for evacuation orders and alerts to get people out of the way of fires exhibiting this type of behaviour.”

Residents in Monte Lake also took offense to comments by Public Safety Minister, Mike Farnworth, when he chastised them for not following evacuation orders, putting the lives of firefighters at risk.

“I will pay his ticket to come to Monte Lake. I will pay his ticket… I will pay his meals. Come and see what we went through, as a community,” Rob Cote, one such resident who stayed behind to save his house, told NL News.

The Wildfire Service says people returning home after an extended evacuation order should contact their local authorities who have set up supports for them.