A wildfire that began after three days of record-breaking temperatures has ravaged most of the small western Canadian town of Lytton, as government officials issued fresh evacuation orders on Thursday as more wildfires spread through the province .
More than 1,000 people in and around Lytton in central British Columbia were evacuated late Wednesday after a rapidly growing fire engulfed the community, leaving residents by surprise. BC Premier John Horgan told reporters the cause of the fire was being investigated.
The Post Media quoted his son as saying that a couple died in a fire in their 60s. Reuters could not independently confirm the deaths. B.C. officials told the briefing that some residents were unaccounted for, adding that “most of the houses and structures” in Lytton have been lost.
“The city has suffered structural damage and 90 percent of the village, including the city center, has burned down,” Brad Wies, the member of parliament for Mission-Matsky-Fraser Canyon, said in a Facebook post.
He said the fire also caused extensive damage to BC Hydro stations and highways, limiting access to Lytton by road.
Horgan said 62 new fires have been reported in B.C. in the past 24 hours, forcing officials to issue new evacuation orders affecting about 700 people in B.C.’s Caribou region.
Extreme heat also devastated the US Northwest with record-high temperatures.
Amateur video footage showed residents of Lytton scrambling to leave the city in cars as the fire burned down trees and some structures.
Lytton Mayor Jan Polderman ordered everyone in the city of 250 to evacuate late Wednesday. Residents of 87 other properties north of Lytton were also ordered to leave on Wednesday.
Litton set a record of 49.6 °C (121.28 °F) on Tuesday. The previous high temperature in Canada, known for its cold winters, was 45 °C, set in Saskatchewan in 1937.
Strong winds gusting to 71 kph (44 mph) were engulfed in flames in the area on Wednesday.
The BC Coroner’s Service said on Wednesday that the province had recorded at least 486 sudden deaths in the five days to Wednesday, nearly three times the normal number that occurred in the province in that period.
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