Wildfire forces evacuation for British Columbia town that hit a record 121 degrees – “The whole town is on fire”

LYTTON, British Columbia, 1 July 2021 (AP) – A wildfire amid a record heatwave in western Canada has forced authorities to order residents to evacuate a village in British Columbia that smashed the country’s record for hottest temperature three days in a row this week.

Mayor Jan Polderman of Lytton issued the evacuation order Wednesday, saying on Twitter that the fire was threatening structures and the safety of residents of the community, which is 95 miles (153 kilometers) northeast of Vancouver.

“All residents are advised to leave the community and go to a safe location,″ Polderman said.

In an interview with CBC News, the mayor said the situation was dire for the community of 250 people.

“The whole town is on fire,” he said. “It took, like, a whole 15 minutes from the first sign of smoke to, all of a sudden, there being fire everywhere.”

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 of it.

Highways north and south of the village reported were closed as firefighters also dealt with two other wildfires in the area.

Lytton’s temperature hovered around 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) Wednesday. That was down from Tuesday, when the village recorded a new Canadian high of 121.2 F (49.6 C), breaking the previous highs of 118.2 F (47.9 C) it reached Monday and 115 F (46.1 C) on Sunday.

What we’ve seen here is absolutely unprecedented.

Honourable Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety for British Columbia

Roughly 15 kilometers (10 miles) to the south in the First Nations community of Kanaka Bar, Jean McKay said she and her 22-year-old daughter, Deirdre McKay, started to panic as the smell of smoke grew stronger.

“I was still sitting there and wondering what to pack, emotionally walking out my door but thinking ‘I’m leaving all this behind.’ It’s hard. Very hard. When my girlfriend told me her house was burning it really hit home,” McKay said.

“My daughter phoned before we lost services and stuff, she’s telling us, ‘Get out of there, get out of there.’”

There was one memento her daughter couldn’t leave behind: “She grabbed my dad’s picture off the wall,” McKay said. “I’m telling her, ‘We’re walking out and this is the home we built forever and that you guys grew up in.’ It’s harsh.”

Wildfire threatens British Columbia village that hit 121 F

“Lytton is gone”: wildfire tears through village after record-breaking heat

By Leyland Cecco
1 July 2021

TORONTO, Canada (The Guardian) – After three days of unrelenting heat, the people in the British Columbia village of Lytton were hoping for a modest respite.

Temperatures which had shattered longstanding national records – at one point reaching a blistering 49.6C (121.28F) – eased slightly on Wednesday, raising hopes that the worst was over.

But that same day, a wildfire tore through the settlement 153km (95 miles) north-east of Vancouver. It was moving so fast that officials didn’t even have time to issue evacuation orders.

Residents saw the thick black smoke filling the valley, grabbed what they could, and escaped. Within hours, most of the buildings had been consumed by flames.

“Our poor little town of Lytton is gone,” Edith Loring-Kuhanga, an administrator at Stein Valley Nlakapamux school, wrote on Facebook. She grabbed her suitcase, a pillow and computer case. Despite a loud explosion from the fire, she rushed back in to grab her purse.

“We loaded everyone up in our vehicles and started driving … we had no power or internet in Lytton and everyone was trying to reach people,” she wrote. “This is so devastating – we are all in shock! Our community members have lost everything.”

While the unprecedented heat has ebbed slightly, the people of Canada’s western provinces are now confronting the grim effects of the blistering temperatures – including a surge in heat-related deaths and the growing spectre of wildfires devouring bone-dry forests.

The people of Lytton had been warned of a fire, 123 acres in size, which was burning south of the village. Officials watched warily as it grew and inched towards the community of 250.

But it was a new fire, fanned by strong winds, that surprised town officials, ripping through the community and engulfing buildings within minutes of being spotted.

“I cried. My daughter cried,” resident Jean McKay told the Canadian Press. She packed up what she could in her home in Kanaka Bar, a First Nations community near Lytton, “[My daughter] said, ‘I don’t even know why I grabbed my key. We might not even have a home.’ I said … as long as we’re together we’ll survive.’ I just pray that our houses are OK.” […]

As the interior of the province burns, residents in major cities received a glimpse of the danger brought by the heatwave when Vancouver’s chief coroner announced “sudden and unexpected” deaths had surged nearly 200% in the preceding five days – a figure that will only rise as more communities input data.

On Wednesday, the province announced 486 sudden deaths, far above the typical 165 deaths for a similar period. […]

“What we’ve seen here is absolutely unprecedented,” Mike Farnworth, the province’s public safety minister, told reporters. Heat-related deaths are rare in the province – only three have been recorded over the last five years. [more]

‘Lytton is gone’: wildfire tears through village after record-breaking heat

‘Most homes’ in Lytton, B.C., destroyed by catastrophic fire, B.C. minister says

By Rhianna Schmunk
1 July 2021

(CBC News) – Dozens of families forced to flee their homes as a catastrophic fire devastated a small village in B.C.’s Fraser Valley are now working to find loved ones scattered in the evacuations, while emergency officials urgently try to account for everybody in the community.

More than 1,000 people living in and around Lytton, B.C., northeast of Vancouver, were forced to leave with little notice Wednesday. They raced out of town as smoke and flames virtually decimated the entire community in one of the most destructive fire emergencies in recent memory.

The province said Thursday the loss includes “most homes” and structures in the village, as well as the local ambulance station and RCMP detachment. A local member of parliament said 90 per cent of the village is gone.

Online community groups were filled with posts from people desperate for information about family, friends and pets left behind. The challenge Thursday will be trying to confirm where residents went and connect them with their families, officials said.

“We are receiving calls from people looking for family and loved ones as well, and it’s really hard because of power outages and cellphone towers being down, but we’re working on that,” Scott Hildebrand, chief administrative officer with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, told CBC by phone early Thursday.

“One of our challenges right now is that we had people leave in all different directions.”

B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said the RCMP is investigating the location of residents who are unaccounted for. He could not provide an exact number.

‘The town burnt down’

Mayor Jan Polderman signed the official evacuation order at 6 p.m. PT on Wednesday. He said the village was overcome by flames before officials had the chance to co-ordinate a place for people to go, so many just started driving.

“The town burnt down,” Polderman said, his voice hoarse as he spoke from a family member’s home in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Thursday. 

“I noticed some white smoke at the south end of town and within 15 to 20 minutes, the whole town was engulfed in flame.”

Video captured by residents rushing out of town showed numerous buildings on fire. Charred rubble was all that remained of the town’s main street. […]

“The conditions have been unprecedented in terms of dryness and heat,” said Erika Berg, a fire information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service. [more]

‘Most homes’ in Lytton, B.C., destroyed by catastrophic fire, B.C. minister says