Conditions on the 53-hectare Barnhartvale fire have cooled enough that fire officials have lifted an evacuation alert affecting more than 100 residents living near the still smoldering blaze.

Sheldon Guertin, Fire and Rescue life safety educator, said the alert was cancelled at 5 p.m. Thursday but by no way means the fire is out.

He said 20 forestry service firefighters would monitor the blaze overnight in case any hot spots flare up. A guard has been built around the fire, which is 85 per cent contained.

“We expect to be there for a couple more days at least,” said Guertin.

Smoke continued to rise from the fire zone Thursday, but no flames were visible from the highway.

That was not the case Tuesday night, when the blaze grew from a one-hectare patch beneath a hydro pole near the Barnhartvale Baptist Church to a raging inferno that forced the evacuation of the River View Campsite and RV Park and put residents in east Juniper Ridge on alert.

An investigation into the cause of the fire continues. Fire Insp. Dan Funk said he's leaning toward an electrical arc sparking from a hydro transformer on the pole.

Funk said he was meeting with representatives from BC Hydro late Thursday afternoon. He was able to rule out lighting as a cause.

“There were no strikes in that area,” he said. Smoking material was also found near the fire's point of origin.

Word that the fire is ramping down was good news for staff at the Pineridge Golf Course. Police ordered the course closed while the fire raged but people were able to play a round Thursday.

General manager Jeff Kent, Ben Humphrey, who works in the pro shop, and another employee spent Tuesday night soaking the greens and fairways with hoses.

“We were doing everything we could to keep the flames off the course,” said Humphrey. At one point a helicopter landed on the 16th fairway.

Surprisingly, customers phoned on Wednesday hoping to book tee times. Humphrey thought everyone would be aware of the fire, he said.

Kent said he's glad no one was hurt and no properties were lost to the flames.

Guertin asked people to stay off hiking trails near the fire and to not cross into the burned area. He said there are a number of burned trees that could topple without warning.

Meanwhile, fire crews were kept busy Thursday as much of B.C. continued to be hit by warm temperatures with rain nowhere in sight

The Jade Mountain wildfire, which was discovered July 21, was 15-per-cent contained Thursday afternoon. The blaze was caused by a lightning strike and it's sparked an evacuation alert, meaning residents could be forced out of their homes at a moment's notice.

A separate fire forced about 20 residents of the Riske Creek military base out of their homes east of Williams Lake.

A third wildfire closed Highway 37 near the B.C.-Yukon boundary. The lightning-sparked blaze broke out Tuesday and covered one square kilometre by Thursday afternoon.

No properties have been lost in any of the fires.

THE DAILY NEWS/THE CANADIAN PRESS