Heat wave in Canada: Lytton village destroyed by forest fire

First an extreme heat wave with temperatures of up to 50 degrees, then a devastating forest fire: the Canadian town of Lytton was almost completely destroyed by a fire. There is also a fire elsewhere in North America.

A forest fire destroyed the Canadian town of Lytton, which broke several temperature records during the ongoing heat wave. “90 percent of the village was burned, including the town center,” said MP Brad Vis. The 250 residents of the village, which is 250 kilometers northeast of Vancouver, were brought to safety from the flames.

Lyttons Mayor Jan Polderman said that he saw white smoke on the southern edge of the village and 15 to 20 minutes later, according to Canadian media. Photos and videos showed completely charred rows of houses and streets. There were initially no official figures on possible victims. Power and telephone connections were interrupted in many places.

Record temperatures in Canada earlier this week

Earlier this week, the Lytton thermometers had read 49.6 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature recorded in Canada. Several forest fires broke out in both Canada and the United States due to the drought. According to the authorities, around a thousand people have already had to leave their homes in western Canada because of the fire.

In the Canadian province of British Columbia alone, 62 new fires were discovered within 24 hours, as provincial government leader John Horgan said. Almost everywhere in British Columbia there is the very highest risk of forest fires. Several fires also blazed north of the town of Kamloops, which is about 150 kilometers northeast of Lytton.

There is also a fire in California

Hot and dry weather with violent winds aggravated the fire situation in California as well. In the north of the most populous US state, over a thousand firefighters fought three major forest fires. One of the fires near the village of Weed has spread to over 80 square kilometers.

Several thousand people had been asked to leave their homes in the danger zone. Despite a large-scale operation of the fire brigade for several days, the flames were only 25 percent contained on Thursday.

In 2020, California had the most devastating forest fire season in terms of area since records began. The fires raged particularly hard from mid-August to the end of October. More than 30 people were killed and over 10,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

The heat warning has now been extended to the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, parts of the Northwest Territories and northern Ontario. The US states of Washington and Oregon are also groaning from the heat wave.