Canadian town where temperatures hit 49.5C evacuated.

The whole town is on fire,’ says the mayor as Canadian village is evacuated due to wildfires.

A town in Canada’s British Columbia province where temperatures recently hit 49.5C, has been ordered to be evacuated after a fast-moving wildfire engulfed many of the area’s buildings.

The village of Lytton, with a population of over 200 people, was ordered to be evacuated on Wednesday after authorities raised the alarm for a rapidly deteriorating wildfire.

“A fire event located within the Village of Lytton is threatening structures and the safety of residents,” the order read. “All residents are advised to leave the community and go to a safe location.”

“It’s dire. The whole town is on fire,” Mayor Jan Polderman told CBC News. “It took, like, a whole 15 minutes from the first sign of smoke to, all of a sudden, there being fire everywhere.”

How the fire reached the village in unclear but the incident follows days of extreme heat that broke Canadian temperature records. A day ago, Lytton set a new all-time Canadian heat record for the third day in a row.

According to Environment Canada, Lytton recorded temperatures in excess of 49C on Tuesday afternoon, after reaching 47.5 C on Monday and 46.6 C Sunday.

Mr Polderman said people have been asked to reach the community centre of Boston Bar, and he was on his way there himself.

“At the First Nation band office, the fire was a wall about three, four feet high coming up to the fence line. I drove through town and it was just smoke, flames, the wires were down,” Mr Polderman said.

Social media posts from the area show many buildings in the village already engulfed in flames. Firefighters have been dealing with these incidents in the village and no loss of life has been reported so far.

“I’ve never seen wildfire conditions this extreme,” CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe said. “We’re going to see conditions like this for the rest of the week, unfortunately.”

1 July 2021

INDEPENDENT