- After several days of heat and temperatures of nearly 50 degrees in the Canadian province of British Columbia, the Canadian village of Lytton was almost completely burned.
- In a very short time, the small town was engulfed in a barrage of fire. More than 1000 people had to leave in a hurry.
- Wildfires are spreading in the US state of California.
Mayor John Boulderman told the Canadian media that he saw white smoke in the southern suburbs of the city and that 15 to 20 minutes later the whole village was engulfed in flames. Photos and videos showed rows of houses and streets completely burned down. No official statistics on the victims were initially available. Electricity and telephone connections were cut off in several places. People fled to distant places from all directions.
Prior to the fire on Wednesday evening (local time), Lytton, 260 kilometers northeast of Vancouver, had recorded heat waves for three consecutive days. The thermometer showed 49.6 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the highest temperature ever measured in Canada, according to the Meteorological Agency. Authorities said Thursday that the 65-square-kilometer fire was “out of control.” The weather is constantly dry, hot and windy.
Dozens of wildfires have erupted
Dozens of wildfires erupted in other parts of the Canadian province of British Columbia within 24 hours, causing several lightning strikes.
Heat and dry weather with strong winds also exacerbated the fire situation in California. More than a thousand firefighters battled three major wildfires Thursday in the north of the most populous U.S. state. The fire, which broke out near the village of Veet, spread over an area of 80 square kilometers. Several thousand people in the dangerous area have been asked to leave their homes. Despite several days of large-scale operations by firefighters, only 25 percent of the fire was contained.
In 2020, California experienced the most devastating wildfire season on recorded land. The fire spread especially from mid-August to the end of October. More than 30 were killed and more than 10,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.
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