Firefighters aren't counting on any weather-related miracles as the battle to bring the wildfires raging to the west under control will continue over the weekend.
"There is potential for some showers on Sunday, but it's 50-50 in probability and it probably not going to be a whole bunch of rain even if we do get it here," Gordon Robinson, an assistant information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service, said Friday.
Reprieve from the wind which, for the last few days has been steadily blowing at 10-15 km/h with gusts of up to 30 km/h, is also doubtful.
As of Friday, the Verdun wildfire southwest of Grassy Plains stood at 26,710 hectares, the Island Lake fire south of Francois Lake was 20,409 hectares and further to the west, the Nadina Lake fire southwest of Burns Lake, measured 85,428 hectares.
"Over last night and so far today, they've filled in some...but they haven't really expanded the perimeters much," Robinson said and later noted that while both the Verdun and Nadina Lake fires remain classified as out of control, crews were able to widen some key guards and keep the blazes from breaching.
The Shovel Lake fire north of Fraser Lake covered 91,042 hectares after growing 3,000 hectares to the northwest and northeast over about two days.
"Most of the containment lines are holding well," BCWFS information officer Forrest Tower said. "We haven't had any issues with fire escaping over guards and we're pretty well resourced in terms of firefighters and equipment."
Cooler temperatures and added humidity helped keep the fires at bay. But the smoke had been thick enough to prevent helicopters from flying for most of the week although pilots got a break on Thursday and Friday.
"We're sort of holding our own here and there's been no real growth or movement on these fires," Tower said.
Bulkley-Nechako Regional District chair Bill Miller said he's heard that some homes on Takysie Lake south of Grassy Plains have been lost some unconfirmed reports of buildings taken out elsewhere.
Miller said that when he spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his brief visit to Prince George on Thursday, he pressed the point that the area will need help to get back on its feet in the aftermath.
"This is a huge impact to the economy of our region, both short-term and long-term and both the province and the federal government have to step up," Miller said.
On Thursday, an evacuation order for the Shovel Lake wildfire was partially rescinded but on the same day, one was invoked for an area north of Tezzeron Lake. And on Wednesday, evacuation orders related to the Verdun and Torkelsen Lake fires were expanded while the order in connection with the Island Lake wildfire was partially rescinded.
