The wildfire in Lytton, BC (Photo courtesy: Jack Zimmerman)

By Caden Fanshaw

UPDATED

The latest on the wildfire situation in BC: Over 50 new wildfires reported

Jul 1, 2021 | 9:08 AM

PRINCE GEORGE – After a major thunderstorm led to severe lightning across the province on Wednesday night, a number of wildfires have been ignited in all regions of the province.

UPDATE: 6:00 PM

The BC Wildfire Service is reporting 99 active wildfires in the province, several new wildfires including two north of Bear Lake.

Those two fires are each estimated at under a hectare in size located near Kerry Lake.

Another fire has been reported near Carp Lake, while a fire near Giscome remains small.

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A wildfire south of Vanderhoof has also more than tripled in size since early Thursday morning and is reported at 50 hectares.

For the full view of active wildfires you can check the BC Wildfire dashboard.

UPDATE: 1:45 PM

Premier John Horgan addressed the province in a press conference to provide some details on crews, and the Lytton fire.

The Premier could not go into detail about the number of people who remain missing or unaccounted for.

More details can be found on the Premier’s address here.

UPDATE: 11:30 AM

Brad Vis, MP for Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon has posted a statement saying 90% of the Village of Lytton has burned.

“The fire has caused extensive damage to the town of #Lytton, BC and surrounding critical infrastructure. The town has sustained structural damage and 90% of the village is burned, including the centre of town,” says the MP.

There are still many unknowns following a wildfire which consumed parts of the community of Lytton, early reports claim the fire may have been started by a train passing through the village.

Residents were told to leave immediately on Wednesday evening, but it is still unknown if everyone was able to make it out of the community safely.

As of 8 a.m. on July 1st, there were 78 active fires reported by the BC Wildfire Service, 53 of those are considered new.

The number of active fires could grow even larger as more fires are discovered throughout the day.

The provincial fire danger remains extreme in many parts of the province including almost all of Northern BC.

Prince George:

There are 13 active fires reported in the Prince George Fire Centre at this time, stretching from Quesnel up to the BC-Yukon border.

The closest reported wildfire to Prince George is located near Giscome, a fire under 0.1 of a hectare in size according to the BCWS, the cause remains unknown.

A small lightning-caused wildfire has been reported south of Vanderhoof, on the Corkscrew FSR.

In the Peace Region, several large wildfires continue to burn out of control which have affected Highway 97 and closed the road in parts at times throughout the day Wednesday.

The Beatton River Wildfire is reported at 4,000 hectares in size, a lightning-caused fire from June 28th.

The Pink Mountain Wildfire has closed the highway in parts south of Fort Nelson periodically over the last few days. The fire doubled in size on Wednesday according to the BCWS who have the size reported at 6,000 hectares. This fire is believed to be caused by lightning.

The Alaska Highway Wildfire has more than tripled in size since Tuesday just north of the Pink Mountain Wildfire. The BC Wildfire Service has reported the size of this fire at just under 3,000 hectares. That fire is believed to have been caused by lightning on June 29th.

As of July 1st at 8 a.m. Highway 97 has been re-opened to traffic, delays are expected. For the latest on traffic conditions, you can visit Drive BC here.

Cariboo:

An evacuation alert has been issued for Deka Lake west of 100 Mile House as over 30 new wildfires burn in parts of the Cariboo Fire Centre

The majority of these wildfires were sparked by the severe thunderstorm which rolled across the province on Wednesday.

Fires range in size from under a hectare in size to up to over 15 hectares in size.

More information on the evacuation alert can be found here.

Kamloops:

The Kamloops Fire Centre has at least 15 active wildfires burning, as the Sparks Lake Fire has grown to over 20,000 hectares.

The good news is that of the 15 active fires in that region, 4 are considered under control.

Several evacuation orders and alerts are in place for parts of the Okanagan.

The three largest wildfires in the province are all within the Kamloops Fire Centre, including the Sparks Lake Wildfire, the West Pavillion Wildfire north of Lillooet which sits at over 5,000 hectares, and the George Road Wildfire reported at over 350 hectares near Lytton.

Rest of BC:

In the other parts of the province, including the Coastal Fire Centre and Northwest Fire Centre, there are 13 active wildfires.

Six of the fires in the Coastal Fire Centre are marked as under control.

CKPG News has reached out to the BC Wildfire Service for more information.

You can view the BC Wildfire Service Dashboard for the latest information here.

This story will be updated as information becomes available.