Latest news with #TNRD
National Post
a day ago
- Climate
- National Post
Fire in Lytton, B.C. that led to evacuations was ignited by wheel falling off of RCMP trailer
Mounties say a wildfire that has triggered evacuations near Lytton, B.C. was caused when a wheel fell off an RCMP trailer in a 'tremendously unfortunate' incident. Article content Staff Sgt. Kris Clark says in a statement that the 'equipment failure' that ignited the Izman Creek fire, about 250 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, happened on Tuesday afternoon on Highway 12. Article content The wildfire began a day after the fourth anniversary of a blaze that destroyed most of the village of Lytton, and it's now grown to 130 hectares and has been upgraded to the only wildfire of note in the province. Article content Clark says it appears the right-side wheel of the trailer was 'ejected' in the incident that caused a fire in a grass-filled ditch. Article content Clark says an officer tried to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher, but was unsuccessful, and the BC Wildfire Service quickly dispatched crews to fight the fire. Article content The trailer was carrying the equipment of a police dive team involved in the search for a missing swimmer in Seton Lake, about 100 kilometres northwest of Lytton. Article content The TNRD has issued an Evacuation Order due to the Izman Creek wildfire. This Order affects approximately 3 addressed properties along Highway 12, north of Lytton, near the intersection of Laluwissin Creek FSR. More information: #BCWildfire — TNRD (@TNRD) July 2, 2025 Article content The wildfire service says in its latest situational report that cool conditions and thunderstorms are in the forecast for much of the province, bringing a low-to-moderate chance of lightning. Article content Article content It says the Fort Nelson area in the northeast is getting the most rain, which will help reduce the intensity of the fires there. Article content The service says north and central B.C. will see seasonal temperatures, and while there may be a slight drop in temperature in the south, hot and dry conditions are expected to linger. Article content The Izman Creek fire has triggered localized evacuation orders and alerts from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, and an evacuation Alert from the Lytton First Nation. Article content The community is still in the process of rebuilding from the 2021 fire that killed two people and wiped out much of the village and part of the Lytton First Nation four years ago on Monday. Article content The service says about 36 per cent of the wildfires actively burning in the province are classified as out of control, 30 per cent are being held and 34 per cent are under control. Article content
CBC
2 days ago
- Climate
- CBC
Wildfire closest to Lytton, B.C., being held — but fire north of village grows
A wildfire burning closest to Lytton, B.C., is not expected to grow beyond current perimeters, leading to evacuation orders being rescinded in the area. The positive news was reported by those fighting the Nikaia Creek fire, which covers an area of just under six hectares across the Fraser River from Lytton. However, the Izman Creek wildfire north of the village has grown significantly over the last two days. As a result, Highway 12 remains closed to most traffic between Lillooet and Lytton. The Izman Creek fire covers an area of 100 hectares as of 3:40 p.m. PT Wednesday, quadrupling in size from 25 hectares recorded on Tuesday night. For those closest to the Fraser Canyon village of Lytton, an evacuation order covering two properties was rescinded by the Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) on Wednesday as firefighters made progress on the Nikaia Creek fire. "We hope that the public mind is put at ease knowing that this is now being held, and that crews are engaging in mop-up activities," said B.C. Wildfire Service information officer Taylor Stewart Shantz on Wednesday morning. Lytton First Nation Chief Niakia Hanna told CBC News on Wednesday afternoon that the nation would likely be calling down its own evacuation alert after fire crews had made assessments. Hanna acknowledged there was a "heightened level of concern" in the area given a deadly 2021 wildfire that all but destroyed the village of Lytton and caused damage to the Lytton First Nation. "Knowing that we have sufficient resources and adequate response times to the fires now ... has created a space to give some comfort to our members that we take fire seriously," he told CBC News. An evacuation order means residents should leave immediately, whereas an evacuation alert means residents should prepare to evacuate their homes with little to no notice. Fire north of Lytton balloons in size Shantz said the crews dealing with the Izman Creek wildfire were facing challenging conditions, which meant they couldn't fight it head-on and would have to use indirect attack methods on Wednesday. "We saw over 30 C in temperature yesterday, and not a lot of recovery overnight," she said. "We've also seen pretty decent winds through the fire centre, and that's expected to continue for the next couple of days." Both fires near Lytton are suspected to have been caused by human activity, with most of the surrounding region under a high or extreme fire danger rating, according to the province. "We do encourage the public to engage cautiously with the outdoors, especially given our current fire danger rating," Shantz said. "It just allows us to be able to more effectively resource those lightning-caused fires when we don't have as many human-caused fires to also be responding to." Highway 12 is only open to local traffic between Lillooet and Lytton as a result of the blaze. The fire has resulted in three properties close to the highway being put on evacuation order and nine other properties being put on evacuation alert by the TNRD. The Lytton First Nation has also issued evacuation alerts for three properties along the highway. Hanna said the First Nation was in talks with officials about providing emergency access along the route, given many essential services were being blocked off due to the highway closure. There are just over 80 wildfires burning in B.C. as of 3:50 p.m. PT, most of which were caused by lightning.
