Just over a week after being discovered, the wildfire near Lytton, British Columbia, continued to grow, reaching nearly 2,223 hectares on Thursday.
“The predicted warming and drying trend, combined with the extremely steep terrain, influenced the behavior of the fire. As expected, fire activity increased significantly [Thursday] afternoon on the northern portion of the west flank, located north of the Stein River,” the BC Wildfire Service said in a note Thursday evening.
Planned ignitions were scheduled for Friday to clear fuel between the fire and the natural control lines.
And the situation is not likely to improve as sunny weather and high temperatures are expected over the weekend in this part of the province.
“This is expected to contribute to an increase in fire behavior and activity, creating potentially volatile conditions during peak burning times,” the BC Wildfire Service said.
“Smoke may continue to affect areas near the uncontrolled Nohomin Creek fire near Lytton. Smoke conditions could vary if there is a change in fire behavior,” Environment Canada said in an alert Friday morning.
A representative of the Lytton First Nation who specializes in archaeological sites is also working with firefighters to identify cultural values and ensure their protection.
“Crews from Lytton First Nation continued to work around structures in neighborhoods on the north and south sides of the Stein Valley. They continue to put out the sources of heat and smoke discovered during their cleaning and patrol operations,” he said.
Four unit teams, eight initial attack teams, 18 Lytton First Nation firefighters, an incident management team, structural protection personnel, four tankers and 11 helicopters are on site for the ‘intervention.
Nearly 313 wildfires have already been recorded in British Columbia, including 22 that are currently active.
