The BC Wildfire Service says there has been minimal growth in a fire that destroyed much of the village of Lytton, B.C., in the past day.
The service says the fire has remained roughly 80 square kilometres in size since Friday.
The efforts come as the BC Coroners Service confirmed Saturday that two people had died in the blaze.
The coroners service said it has not received any other reports of deaths linked to the fire, but officials have said that some people remain unaccounted for, in large part due to the hasty evacuation of the village on Wednesday night.
Elsewhere, the Regional District of Central Kootenay says a wildfire burning near Castlegar, B.C., has been controlled and is expected to be completely contained by Sunday night.
An evacuation order remains in place for more than 100 homes 40 kilometres southwest of Kamloops, B.C., as an out-of-control wildfire continues to burn.
There are a total of 13 “wildfires of note” across B.C. and 172 active blazes overall. Of those, 60 are in the Kamloops Fire Centre, 42 are in the Cariboo Fire Centre, 37 are in the Prince George Fire Centre, 26 are in the Southeast Fire Centre, five are in the Coastal Fire Centre and two are in the Northwest Fire Centre as of Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
More than two-thirds of the active fires right now are considered to be lightning-caused, seven per cent are considered human-caused and cause is unknown for the rest.
Just over 41 per cent of the current active wildfires are listed as “out of control.”
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The Canadian Press
