Dozens of homes evacuated as out-of

Dozens of homes evacuated as out-of-control wildfire threatens Lytton, B.C.

Dozens of homes evacuated in village still recovering from devastating 2021 fire

The residents of 60 properties remain evacuated from their homes on Saturday, as crews battle an out-of-control wildfire burning near Lytton, B.C.

The Saw Creek wildfire was first discovered on Friday, about three kilometres south of the village, and has since grown to an estimated six square kilometres in size.

It has forced the closure of Highway 1 for about 116 kilometres, between Boston Bar and Cache Creek.

The fire comes just a few days before the five year anniversary of a devastating wildfire that killed two people and reduced the community to rubble.

Jill Wasstrom was driving home from a day trip on the coast around 5 p.m. on Friday when she witnessed the early stages of the fire.

She said it was only a few hundred metres in size at that point, but was already throwing off thick smoke.

"There was one structure I could see on fire. It looked like a shed, possibly," she told CBC News.

"And then there was lots of burning bushes and it was weird — it's like it had jumped from place to place."

Evacuation orders, alerts in place

Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) area director Tricia Thorpe told CBC News two evacuation orders were issued late Friday by the TNRD — one for the village and another for the electoral area. They apply to properties above the highway, which survived the devastating 2021 fire that razed most of the village.

"My understanding is it started on the side of the highway, near a residence, and it spread fairly quickly to the north.

"The community, I think, are probably in a little bit of shock and reeling from it."

Out-of-control wildfire near Lytton, B.C., triggers evacuation orders

Around 170 addresses in Lytton, along with some properties in the surrounding areas, are under evacuation alerts and have been told be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

A boil-water advisory is in effect for the village, and Thorpe said the fire has knocked out power to some residents in the area. As of Saturday morning, B.C. Hydro lists two outages affecting 144 customers.

TNRD chief administrative officer Scott Hildebrand said evacuees were being directed to an emergency support services centre in Kamloops, and that so far, everyone was "safe and out of the way."

"It's dry, it's hot, and unfortunately that area is prone to fires — it's heartbreaking that this is happening five years later yet again," he said.

"But I know everyone's on deck and doing our best to make sure we're protecting our our residents, our First Nations partners and structures as well."

More stories from the B.C. Interior

As of Saturday morning, the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) said the fire was showing Rank 2 behaviour, meaning "a surface fire with visible open flame and an unorganized flame front."

BCWS information officer Shae Stearns said the increase in the fire's estimated size overnight from two to six square kilometres was a combination of fire growth and better mapping.

"Hot and dry conditions are still present in the area, so that means the fuels are highly susceptible to ignition," she said.

"While the temperatures today are expected to be a few degrees cooler than they were yesterday, there is still that potential for increased fire activity where we have direct sunlight on fuels and it dries them out a bit faster, or where we see that wind start to increase."

The BCWS said 130 personnel were battling the flames, with support of nine helicopters and structure protection crews.

The fire is believed to be human-caused, the label the BCWS applies to any wildfire not started by lightning.

Thorpe said she has been fielding a wave of calls from community members reaching out with information and resources to try and help.

"The things that people can do right now are make sure they've got that 'go bag,' make sure they've got a plan, make sure that they've got contacts set up if they do get separated, make sure they've got plans for their animals," she said.

"If you are somewhat in the line of that fire, make sure that you're doing all those little things that help mitigate the threat of the wildfire: moving your propane tanks, making sure that you don't have lawn furniture close to your house — those little steps can make a big, big difference in what happens."

As of Saturday morning there were 16 active wildfires in B.C. — with the Saw Creek wildfire the only "fire of note," a designation that means it is particularly visible or poses a threat to public safety.

Lytton was all but destroyed and two people died in a wildfire on June 30, 2021, a day after the village hit a new Canadian temperature record of 49.6 C.

Despite more than $140 million in federal and provincial funding, the recovery has been slow, with only a few dozen homes rebuilt. There are currently about 75 residents in the village, which had a population of 210 before the 2021 fire.

With files from Jenifer Norwell and The Canadian Press