Canada is reeling under record-breaking temperatures, the threat from wildfires has now forced authorities to evacuate a village in British Columbia. The soaring temperature has caused hundreds of deaths and the wildfires have threatened the safety of residents of Lytton, situated 153 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
Video footage shared by local authorities showed wildfires raging on the hills overlooking Lytton and engulfing the town as residents rushed to safety. After wildfires began spreading rapidly on Wednesday, Mayor Jan Polderman of Lytton issued evacuation orders for all 250 residents.
“All residents are advised to leave the community and go to a safe location, ″Polderman said in the evacuation order.
On Tuesday, the average temperature of the British Columbia village touched a record high of 49.6 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous highs of 47.9 degrees Celsius on Monday and 46.1 degrees Celsius on Sunday. Lytton’s temperature came down to around 39 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, but the raging wildfires threatened the safety of its residents.
“The whole town is on fire. It took, like, a whole 15 minutes from the first sign of smoke to, all of a sudden, there was fire everywhere,” Polderman told Canadian broadcaster CBC News.
