UPDATE: Two wildfires merge south of Ashcroft

Wildfires south of Ashcroft forced out more than a hundred rural residents Wednesday evening. The two fires merged overnight as they grew together into a 4,125 hectare blaze, according to BC Wildfire Service. Cook's Ferry Indian Band ordered evacuations from five of its reserves around 8 p.m., July 17, followed by an evacuation of dozens more rural properties in the Venables Valley area an hour later. The evacuations were due to both the Teit Creek and Shetland Creek wildfires, estimated at 249 and 285 hectares, respectively, as of Wednesday night. Both were caused by lightning and discovered late last week, according to BC Wildfire Service. Overnight they merged and grew to more than 4,000 hectares as it's now only called the Shetland Creek wildfire. The Shetland Creek wildfire had 10 wildfire personnel on the ground working overnight. On Wednesday, there were two bulldozers, two excavators and three water tenders at the scene, along with a structure protection unit. Five helicopters were bucketing water on the Shetland Creek wildfire and Teit Creek, roughly four kilometres to the south.  Only aerial firefighting was used at Teit Creek because of the steep terrain, according to wildfire service. Evacuees are advised to report to Emergency Support Services at the Cache Creek community hall at 1270 Stage Road. Along with those ordered to evacuate, there are more properties in the area that are on alert. Go here for more information on Cook's Ferry evacuation orders and alerts https://www.emergencyinfobc.gov.bc.ca/ , and here for Thompson Nicola Regional District emergency info. https://eoc.tnrd.ca/ — This story was updated with new information from the BC Wildfire Service at 9:20 a.m., July 18, 2024. To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry mailto:llandry@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .