'Flashbacks' in Lytton, B.C., as anxious residents face evacuation orders, alerts

'Flashbacks' in Lytton, B.C., as anxious residents face evacuation orders, alerts

Fire grew to 7 square kilometres overnight, more than 60 properties remain evacuated

Sunday marks another day of anxious waiting and watching for residents of Lytton, B.C., with hundreds of properties under evacuation alerts or orders due to an out-of-control wildfire.

The B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) said Sunday that the Saw Creek wildfire, which was burning about three kilometres south of the village, had grown by about 100 hectares overnight, to seven square kilometres in size.

Highway 1 remains closed between Boston Bar and Spences Bridge due to the fire, and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) has declared a state of emergency in Lytton and Blue Sky County.

Fire crews spent the night focusing on structure protection, and the BCWS says they were aided by cooler temperatures and light winds.

As of Sunday, more than 60 properties were still under evacuation order, while about 170 more were under evacuation alert, meaning residents must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

The Lytton First Nation has also issued an evacuation order for some of its residents.

Fire information officer Paula Walbauer said the fire was currently burning on both sides of Highway 1 south of the village, and upslope from the homes under evacuation order.

She said crews were directly attacking the fire from the north and the south, but that weather in the coming days could prove challenging.

"It's still supposed to remain very hot and very dry with our peak temperatures increasing in that early part of next week," she said.

"Tuesday our winds are supposed to shift, so rather than coming from the north, (they) are supposed to be coming from the east Tuesday afternoon, so definitely something that we'll be watching for that change in fire activity or direction."

Lytton Mayor Denise O'Connor told CBC News on Sunday that she was feeling "pretty confident" about the firefight.

“Weather has a huge part to do with it, and the wind is down a lot from yesterday and the day before," she said.

"Also, the resources that are on it are incredible. B.C. Wildfire and other fire crews in the area are on it, we have other communities who’ve sent in water tenders and that sort of thing, which is so appreciated.”

The fire was first spotted on Friday evening, 11 days before the five-year anniversary of the 2021 wildfire that destroyed the community and left two people dead.

Speaking with CBC's North by Northwest on Sunday, Lytton First Nation member Teresa Raphael said the situation brings back "a lot of flashbacks."

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Raphael's mother lost her home in the 2021 fire, and only recently returned to the community.

"It's been a year now that she's been back into her home, and they actually just did a little bit of a celebration earlier on, the day the fire started, for these houses in this location that were finished," she said.

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However, Raphael said First Nations communities in the area have been banding together to help each other out, and have found strength in unity.

Dean Adams, who lives in the Village of Lytton, said the timing of this year's emergency was eerie.

"It was almost like the fire wasn't finished with Lytton," he said.

Adams lost his home in the 2021 fire, though not before attempting to protect it with a garden hose.

"I just thought there was a grass fire, I just had to deal with that, not knowing half of the town was already burnt and I didn't know," he said. "I finally realized ... and I said 'What the hell am I doing?'"

He said those memories were top of mind as he waited under an evacuation alert over the weekend.

"It's the second time, and it's so close to the fifth anniversary of the first fire, we're 10 days away and it's the same climate, windy and hot, and something strange is going on," he said. "It's a feeling."

Adams said this time around people have had more time to prepare, and communication has been better.

The BCWS said it has 135 firefighters and nine helicopters assigned to the fire on Sunday.

Structure protection crews have also deployed sprinkler systems to protect homes.

The fire is believed to be human-caused, a classification given to any fire not started by lightning.

With files from Alanna Kelly and North by Northwest