Wildfire triggers evacuation order for Lytton, B.C., village ravaged by 2021 blaze

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Dozens of firefighters have been assigned to the blaze with aerial support and structure protection crews also responding.

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Updates from emergency officials with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District say an evacuation order is now in effect for 47 addressed properties in the Village of Lytton, with 168 other addresses also under evacuation alerts.

The flames of the Saw Creek wildfire have also forced the closure of Highway 1 for 116 kilometres, between Boston Bar and Cache Creek.

The BC Wildfire Service says the fire, likely human-caused, has already grown to roughly two square kilometres and will likely continue to spread because of hot, dry conditions.

The Lytton First Nation has also issued an evacuation alert for some of its residents.

On June 30, 2021, one day after Lytton recorded a Canadian temperature record of 49.6 C, a wildfire swept through the village, killing two people and levelling almost the entire community.

Then-premier John Horgan and two of his cabinet ministers were flown over the devastated community days later where he said there was “literally nothing left.”

Despite more than $140 million in federal and provincial funding, the recovery has been slow, with only a few dozen homes rebuilt. There are currently about 75 residents in the village, which had a population of 210 before the 2021 fire.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2026.

The Canadian Press