Most residents in the Princeton area will be able to go back home at 10 a.m. Saturday morning, with the majority of evacuation orders lifted at taht time.
Highway 5A will remain closed, but residents north of Summers Creek Road who have been provided letters by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen will be able to go back to their properties.
Related: Princeton fire 90-per-cent contained
Highway 5A is expected to be opened to public use at 10 a.m. on Monday if wildfire conditions don’t change over the weekend.
The mandatory evacuation order will remain n effect for 17 homes along the southern end of Summers Creek Road, and the southern end of the road will stay closed due to fears of falling trees and unstable slopes.
While the evacuation order has been lifted for most homes, all those properties will remain under evacuation alert, totalling 587 properties on evacuation alert.
All properties near the Princeton wildfire remain under a local state of emergency, meaning crews retain the right to enter private property to fight the wildfire, if needed.
Clearance letters for residents north of Summers Creek Road will be provided at the Princeton Emergency Social Services reception centre at the Riverside Community Centre at 148 Old Hedley Road.
Related: Regional directors call for more fire smart programs
That will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
The community of Missezula Lake will be downgraded to an evacuation alert at 10 a.m. tomorrow, as well, though Summers Creek Road will stay closed. Access to the community will only be available through unmaintained logging roads, accessible from the north of the community.
Property owners in Missezula Lake won’t need access letters to use those logging roads and won’t be able to exit or dnter by Summers Creek Road.
Missezula contains 199 cabins and homes, according to the RDOS.