IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Lytton fire left residents little time to escape the flames

MERRITT, B.C. – Evacuees of a fire that swept through Lytton Wednesday (June 30) are telling harrowing stories of their escape.

“When the wires started falling off the hydro poles, I figured it was time to go,” said an exhausted David Harrison. The 15 year resident of Lytton escaped minutes before flames overwhelmed the small community.

He only became aware of the impending danger a few minutes earlier. “I was standing in my living room and looked out my window and there were flames roaring right across my driveway.” He continued, “I went outside to use my water hose to put the fire out.”

He scoffed, “That was a waste of time.”

Fire crews from as far away as Mission and Kelowna came to the aid of the Lytton Volunteer Fire Department yesterday when a fire blazed through the community. No media have been allowed into the community but social media posts suggest almost the entire town was destroyed in the fire.

Robert Leitch, a councillor with the Village of Lytton, has heard and seen the reports, but is still waiting to hear just how bad the situation is.

Like others, he had only a few minutes to escape.

“It was something else. I basically had 15 minutes to get everything into the truck, knock on a few doors to see if we could get a few neighbours, and get out of town.”

Ironically, the George Road fire earlier in June near Lytton prompted him to pack some valuables in case of an evacuation. He managed to get out of town with some valuable items.

Luckily he was better prepared, because he says didn’t even have time to be scared.

“At the time, you just do what you got to do, but to be honest it’s just hard sleeping now because you just kind of replay everything you went through and that’s just really hard.”

Harrison and Leitch have escaped to Merritt and registered at an Evacuation Response Centre. Merritt officials says more than 70 Lytton evacuees have registered in the community. They’re staying at hotels, homes of friends and in civic facilities.

Emergency officials set up a command post in the small smoke fill community of Spences Bridge Thursday morning as the effort to save what is left of Lytton gets underway.

RCMP members from the Lower Mainland to Kamloops are assisting with the emergency efforts securing properties and watching over public safety efforts.

Another command post has been established near Boston Bar on the southern side of Lytton. But travel between the two is impossible at this point.

Emergency officials say cell towers and other transmitter sites have been destroyed by the flames. Hydro lines are also down and laying across roads in Lytton, making it dangerous for emergency crews.

BC Emergency Health Services crews are also at the Command Post, available to assist if there are any injuries. To date, they has been no information on whether anyone was injured in Wednesday’s devastating fire.