A fire burning near the village of Lytton has grown to 200 hectares and several First Nations reserves have been ordered to evacuate, BC officials said on Thursday.
The BC Forest Fire Service is responding to the new fire burning approximately 1.7 kilometers northwest of the town, about two weeks after the first anniversary of the deadly blaze that destroyed most of the town.
In a hastily arranged virtual press conference Thursday afternoon, officials from the BC Wildfire Service, Emergency Management BC and Lytton First Nation provided an update on the Nohomin Creek wildfire.
Less than an hour later, his update needed an update.
Instead of the estimated size of 25 hectares that officials had given for the fire, the size is now believed to be closer to 200 hectares, or about 2 square kilometers, according to a written statement released by the wildfire service.
EVACUATION ORDERS AND WARNINGS
The two reserves that Lytton First Nation deputy chief John Haugen said had been ordered to evacuate at the news conference were joined by several others, according to the updated statement.
In total, Lytton First Nation has issued evacuation orders for reservations 23, 27B, 27 and 27A. The nation also issued evacuation warnings for reservations 9A and 9B, the wildfire service said, as well as orders and warnings for properties up to Cameron Bar IR 13.
The Thompson Nicola Regional District also issued an evacuation order and opened its emergency operations center Thursday night in response to the fire.
About two dozen properties in Electoral Area I are subject to the orderand evacuees were told to take Spencer Road North toward Lillooet to get out of the area.
“The southbound route to Boston Bar on the west side of the Fraser River has been compromised due to the arrival of spring, and the Lytton Ferry remains out of service due to high water,” the regional district said in its announcement. .
Three structures may have been lost in the fire, although those reports are unconfirmed, according to Pader Brach, executive director of regional operations for Emergency Management BC.
‘HIGHLY VISIBLE’ FIRE
The fire was first reported at 12:45 p.m. Thursday, according to fire officials, and is burning on the west side of the Fraser River.
During the news conference, Haugen said he believed a total of nine residents had been ordered to evacuate. The wildfire service statement did not provide an updated total.
“Wind gusts in the area this afternoon are affecting fire behavior, and crews in the air and on the ground are seeing moderate rates of fire spread,” said Rob Schweitzer, director of operations for the BC Wildfire Fire Center. Service, during the press conference. .
“The incident is highly visible from Highway 1, Lytton Village, Lytton First Nation and surrounding communities.”
Four initial attack teams and two unit teams are fighting the fire from the ground with the support of helicopters and air tankers, Schweitzer said, adding that the RCMP and local fire departments are also responding to the blaze.
Images of the fire posted on social media show thick black smoke and visible flames, with several houses and other structures visible in the foreground.
The cause of the fire is unknown, according to authorities.
LYTTON MEETING CANCELED, TELUS SERVICE OUT
The Town of Lytton was scheduled to hold an online community meeting Thursday night to discuss municipal recovery plans. That meeting has been canceled because of the fire, and will be rescheduled, according to a Facebook post from the village.
E-Comm 911, the province’s largest emergency dispatcher, said on Twitter that Telus’ landline and cell phone service was not available in Boston Bar, Lytton and Spences Bridge.
Technicians are on site working on the outage, according to E-Comm, which advised those facing life-threatening emergencies to try dialing 911 if service has been restored, or to head to a doctor’s office. nearest police station or fire department if possible. .
Fire officials said there was no indication that the Telus blackout was related to the wildfire.
On its outage website, Telus lists the cause of Thursday’s outage as a car accident that damaged the company’s cables.
The 2022 BC wildfire season started much more slowly than the devastating 2021 season, but the wildfire service warned in its latest season outlook earlier this month that conditions were expected to get hotter and drier in the upcoming weeks.
The fire that destroyed Lytton swept through the town on June 30, after three straight days of record heat.
The fast-moving fire gave residents little time to flee, and two people were killed.
More than a year later, Lytton remains under an evacuation order and community members still face uncertainty as they wait to return home.