Village of Lytton, B.C., evacuated as mayor says 'the whole town is on fire'

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Village of Lytton, B.C., evacuated as mayor says 'the whole town is on fire'

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-wildfires-june-30-2021-1.6085919

Earlier this week, Lytton, about 260 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, recorded the highest temperature ever seen in Canada on three consecutive days, topping out at 49.6 C on Tuesday as an unprecedented heat wave scorched Western Canada.

Erica Berg, a provincial fire information officer, said the evacuation order was issued about an hour after the blaze began but she did not know the size or the cause of it. She said the B.C. Wildfire Service is diverting crews and equipment from other areas to respond to the fire.

Winds of up to 71 kilometres an hour were pushing the fire north into the community as of 7 p.m. PT, according to CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe. She said the hot, dry and windy conditions in the area could mean the fire is moving at 10 or even 20 kilometres an hour.

• For 3rd straight day, B.C. village smashes record for highest Canadian temperature at 49.6 C

• Homes evacuated as out-of-control wildfires grow in B.C.'s Interior

Michelle Nordstrom with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District said local officials are scrambling to coordinate the evacuation as it happened so suddenly and Lytton residents were fleeing the town in any direction they could.

Another spokesperson for the regional district said about 1,000 people in First Nations communities may also be ordered to evacuate, but it was hard to get in contact with their local governments.

Firefighters were already dealing with at least two other wildfires in the area when the latest fire moved in on Lytton. The George Road wildfire, burning south of Lytton, was last estimated to be 350 hectares at 2:26 p.m. PT, and the nearby Conte Creek fire was estimated at 1.5 hectares.

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Prayers for them.