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 go away the community and attend a secure location, ″Polderman said within the evacuation order.
On Tuesday, the typical temperature of 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 decreased to around 39 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, but the raging wildfires threatened the security of its residents.
"The whole town is ablaze . It took, like, an entire quarter-hour from the primary sign of smoke to, all of a sudden, there was fire everywhere," Polderman told Canadian broadcaster CBC News.
The deadly heatwave has renewed the climate action debate and experts believe that such record-setting temperatures would become more frequent. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the country has been frequently witnessing such extreme weather , warning that the continued heatwave won't be the last.
The sizzling heatwave has been blamed on a high-pressure "heat dome", a phenomenon when the atmosphere traps hot ocean air sort of a lid or cap. consistent with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a United States government agency under the department of commerce, a “heat dome” forms when strong, high-pressure atmospheric conditions combine with influences from La Niña, creating vast areas of sweltering heat.
