‘How can this be happening again?’: Lytton residents face another wildfire
Judith Urquhart was visiting the Lytton Chinese History Museum on Friday afternoon when she noticed smoke drifting throughout the Fraser River.
It was simply earlier than 5 pm, and Urquhart knew she needed to get dwelling rapidly.
“You know that there is an imminent danger with that amount of smell in the air,” the Lytton, BC, resident added.
“Adrenaline rush, not quite triggering, because at the same time you’re so focused on getting ready to leave.”
She and her husband lost their home in 2021 when a wildfire raged through Lytton, BC, killing two people and destroying most of the village. Although they rebuilt, a new fire is threatening the community and they are once again under an evacuation alert.
The Saw Creek wildfire was discovered Friday about three kilometers south of Lytton and had grown to an estimated six square kilometers by Saturday.
More than 60 properties are under evacuation orderr, while about 170 more are under evacuation alert, meaning residents must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. The Lytton First Nation has also issued an evacuation order for some of its residents.
Highway 1 is closed for about 116 kilometers between Boston Bar and Cache Creek.
“It’s surreal, and I think a lot of people are saying the same thing,” Urquhart stated. “How can this be happening again.”
She says the smoke, the warmth, the evacuation alerts and orders introduced again reminiscences of June 30, 2021, when flames swept via Lytton only a day after the village had recorded a Canadian temperature file of 49.6 C.
Despite greater than $140 million in federal and provincial funding, the restoration has been sluggish, with just a few dozen houses rebuilt. There are presently about 75 residents within the village, which had a inhabitants of 210 earlier than the 2021 fireplace.
Jill Wasstrom was driving through Lytton just before 5 pm on Friday when she captured the Saw Creek fire in its early stages. Highway 1 has since been closed in the area, and dozens of homes were put under evacuation orders.
Community standing for one another
Joe and Katrina Justice, members of the Lytton First Nation, say the latest fire has brought another round of loss and fear.
The couple lost their home in the 2021 fire and recently moved into a rebuilt home on Indian Reserve 18, which is now under an evacuation alert.
“Oh man, here we go again,” he said. “Five years later, that’s crazy how this is working out.”
Katrina said she is hopeful the fire won’t reach her property this time around but the blaze is already wreaking havoc in the community.
Her uncle’s home on Kitzowitz Indian Reserve 20 has burned down as the Saw Creek wildfire rages south of Lytton, she said. Several homes on the reserve, which have been under an evacuation order since Friday, have been destroyed, according to the couple.
Katrina said her uncle had been on his way to Chilliwack when the fire broke out and he couldn’t get back because the highway was closed.
“We do have a family chat so we all know my uncle is doing good… we gathered money and we sent him money to help him out,” she said speaking about her uncle who is currently staying in Chilliwack.
The couple said community members have turned to social media to check on one another and vent some of their fears about the latest fire.
Joe said he also went to his daughter’s home, which was under evacuation order, to collect belongings, photos and her cats.
“My daughter was worried about her cats,” he said. “That’s her family.”
Meanwhile, those in a neighboring community are watching anxiously.
In Spences Bridge, about 27 kilometers northeast of Lytton, the owner of a local inn, Dorothy Boragno, said locals can smell the smoke from the Saw Creek fire. It’s enough to unsettle anyone who lived through 2021, she said.
“People are so shaken up,” said Boragno.
“It was so smoky… you can scent burning bushes and it triggers everybody.”
Back in 2021, Boragno stayed behind even when the city was evacuated to supply lodging for firefighters.
“Because we’ve been through this before, we know the drill,” she stated.
The BC Wildfire Service says 130 personnel are preventing the fireplace, supported by 9 helicopters and construction safety crews. The fireplace is believed to be human-caused, a designation used for fires not began by lightning.
Urquhart stated the wildfire response has been “incredible,” and fireplace crews have been working nonstop.
Still, she stated, folks in Lytton understand how rapidly issues can change.
“We don’t desire the story to play out the identical method.”
