Crews battling wildfire less than 2 km from fire-destroyed village of Lytton, B.C.

A fire burning near the Village of Lytton has grown to 200 hectares in size, and several First Nation reserves have been ordered to evacuate, B.C. officials said Thursday.

The BC Wildfire Service is responding to the new fire burning approximately 1.7 kilometres northwest of the village, roughly two weeks after the first anniversary of the deadly fire that destroyed most of the village.

At a hastily arranged virtual news 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, their update needed an update.

Rather than the 25-hectare size estimate officials had given for the blaze, the size is now believed to be closer to 200 hectares – or roughly 2 square kilometres – according to a written statement issued by the wildfire service.

EVACUATION ORDERS AND ALERTS

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 all, Lytton First Nation has issued evacuation orders for reserves 23, 27B, 27 and 27A. The nation has also issued evacuation alerts for reserves 9A and 9B, the wildfire service said, as well as orders and alerts for properties up to Cameron Bar IR 13.

The Thompson Nicola Regional District also issued an evacuation order and opened its emergency operations centre Thursday night in response to the blaze.

Approximately two dozen properties in Electoral Area I are subject to the order, with those evacuating told to take Spencer Road North to Lillooet to get out of the area. 

"The route south to Boston Bar on the west side of the Fraser River has been compromised due to the spring freshet, 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 to the fire, though those reports are unconfirmed, according to Pader Brach, executive director of regional operations for Emergency Management BC.

'HIGHLY VISIBLE' FIRE

The blaze 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.

"Gusting winds in the area this afternoon are impacting the fire behaviour, and crews in the air and on the ground are observing moderate fire rates of spread," said Rob Schweitzer, director of fire centre operations for BC Wildfire Service, during the news conference. 

"The incident is highly visible from Highway 1, the Village of Lytton, Lytton First Nation and surrounding communities."

Four initial attack crews and two unit crews are battling 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 fire.

Images of the fire posted on social media show thick black smoke and visible flames, with several homes and other structures visible in the foreground.

The cause of the fire is unknown, according to officials.

LYTTON MEETING CANCELLED, TELUS SERVICE OUT

The Village of Lytton was scheduled to hold an online community meeting Thursday evening to discuss municipal recovery plans. That meeting has been cancelled 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 cellular service was unavailable 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 in case service has been restored, or to head to the nearest doctor's office, police station or fire department if possible.

Fire officials said there was no indication that the Telus outage was related to the wildfire. 

On its outage website, Telus lists the cause of Thursday's outage as a motor vehicle accident that damaged the company's cables.

B.C.'s 2022 wildfire season has started much more slowly than the devastating 2021 season did, but the wildfire service warned in its latest season outlook earlier this month that conditions were expected to warm up and dry out in the coming weeks. 

The blaze that destroyed Lytton swept through the village on June 30, after three straight days of record-breaking heat.

The fast-moving fire gave residents little time to flee, and two people died.

More than a year later, Lytton remains under evacuation order, and community members are still facing uncertainty as they wait to return home.