After close to a complete week of record-breaking, life-threatening heat, a community going through the worst conditions now has a new tragedy to deal with.
All-time Canadian High-temperature Record
The village of Lytton, situated in southern British Columbia, Canada, was the hottest region in the whole country for three successive days. From the 27th of June being Sunday, to the 29th of June being Tuesday, the village of Lytton broke the all-time Canadian high-temperature record, with every day being hotter than the previous day. On Tuesday, the heat peaked when the temperature got to 49.6 C (121 F)
If uncommon heat wasn't enough problem to deal with, almost a complete week of excessive hot and dry conditions kicked off for another danger - wildfires.
A fire broke out in Lytton, late Wednesday afternoon, local time. As per the eyewitnesses, the village was covered in flames within some minutes.
As per The Vancouver Sun, a couple in their 60s, were reported dead due to the fire. According to their son, the couple was in a hole in the ground where they took shelter before the fire killed them.
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Evacuation Order Signed into Effect
Residents had already started to run for their safety while Mayor Jan Polderman signed the formal evacuation order into effect Wednesday at 6 p.m. PDT. Polderman told CBC News: "It's dire. The entire town is on fire." Lytton is an abode to around 250 residents.
By Wednesday evening, an order was also given to additional communities north of Lytton to evacuate as the fire grew.
The magnitude of the scorched devastation became evident Thursday. A picture News 1130 in Vancouver obtained revealed the disastrous aftermath of what was a crowded stretch in the town before the fire. A Canadian minister of parliament, Brad Vis, said that the fire destroyed 90 percent of the town, News 1130 reported.
Wildfires Rapidly Increases
Vis told News 1130 that the situation is extremely dire. There's firefighters arriving from across the province to help with the region's growing fires. The situation is still unfolding. As of early Thursday, it was reported that the fire was over 19,700 acres in size (around 8,000 hectares).
Anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500 individuals in and close to Lytton have been affected by the fire, Vis told the news outlet.
The fire that covered Lytton was just one of over 70 wildfires still burning across the whole province of British Columbia on Wednesday into Thursday. The number of wildfires that is in action in British Columbia had rapidly increased to over 110 By Friday morning.
On Thursday night, in Kamloops, British Columbia, homes were evacuated because of another wildfire. Luckily, the evacuation was canceled as fire crews controlled the fire. Residents were free to go back to their homes.
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