The message of appreciation to crews fighting wildfires comes from a local resident near evacuated Lillooet, B.C. (CBC)

Cooler weather and the work of forest fire crews have resulted in the lifting of evacuation orders for more than 400 people in two areas of B.C.

Some 360 people in the Traders Cove and Bear Creek area north of Kelowna were to be allowed back home Thursday morning, but they will remain on evacuation alert.

They are among more than 2,000 people forced out of their homes by the Terrace Mountain fire near Fintry, which covers 80 square kilometres but is now 40 per cent contained.

Meanwhile, an evacuation order has been lifted for 50 people in Brookmere, south of Merritt, although they will also remain on evacuation alert.

The residents were ordered out on Sunday because of the Brook Creek fire, which covers 21 square kilometres.

There are no plans yet to lift the evacuation order covering more than 2,200 people in Lillooet.

The Mount McLean fire has charred 38 square kilometres, but crews are making progress against it with a series of controlled burns of trees in the path of the fire.

Officials held a town hall meeting Wednesday in Kamloops to update Lillooet residents on the situation, but they could only tell them they would have to spend a third night out of their homes and it's unclear when they will be able to return.

Some defy evacuation order

Jerry Sucharyna, the co-ordinator for emergency services in Lillooet, said the centre is running smoothly, but it is difficult dealing with calls from distressed residents.

"The hardest part for me would be answering questions or calls from people that do not know where their loved ones are and if they got out," he said.

"That's the most trying part of what the EOC is dealing with because we're there to facilitate and make sure everything runs smoothly, yet at the same time there's that human component that we have no control over."

Sucharyna said he is impressed with how the community is pulling together under the circumstances.

While thousands fled their homes as the fire raged closer, an estimated 100 people stayed behind despite the evacuation order.

Glen Saul, 16, told CBC News he just couldn't go when the rest of his family fled to Kamloops.

"We had a lot of warning saying that we had to leave town, but I just can't because I've lived here my whole life and it's a like a town of memories and I actually kinda want to stop the fire, too, so that's why I'm here."

Saul said he is hoping to sign up as a volunteer at the firefighters camp.

Thousands displaced throughout B.C.

In the central Okanagan fire near Fintry, officials said Wednesday cooler temperatures helped them get that fire 40 per cent contained.

Another 2,200 people in the area remain on evacuation alert as crews work to douse the 7,500-hectare blaze.

The latest evacuation order came just days after many of those same residents were allowed to return home after an earlier order was lifted.

The fire had been estimated to be 90 per cent contained when high winds pushed it over the fireguard Sunday.

A 2,000-hectare fire burns just five kilometres from the settlement of Brookmere, about 100 kilometres west of Fintry, where 70 residents of the community were not as lucky as their 50 neighbours who were allowed back home late Wednesday.

Evacuation orders also affect residents living close to fires south of Merritt, in several communities west of Lillooet and north of Pemberton Meadows.

In the Bella Coola Valley, 61 homes remained on evacuation order Wednesday, with another 25 on evacuation alert, but officials say they are making progress.

They say fire guards are holding and the Nuxalk fire is moving away from people homes.

Highway 20 remains closed heading into the valley, and officials are advising travellers to stay away from the area.

Nearly 5,000 people across the province have been forced to flee their homes because of fires.

Federal help for B.C. likely, says Harper

While hundreds of fires burn across B.C. and thousands of people have been displaced from their homes, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said there will likely be federal cash to help fight the fires.

A helicopter comes in for a landing while a controlled fire burns on Mount McLean. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

Harper said the bill from fighting the blazes would likely trigger the federal government's Disaster Relief Act.

The province's firefighting budget for the year was $61 million, but $110 million has already been spent, and that figure grows by an estimated $3 million each day.

Officials say there have been almost 2,100 fires so far this season, burning about 550 square kilometres of forest.

With files from The Canadian Press