‘Some residents are still unaccounted for’; Farnworth

“This has been a very difficult day and the days ahead will continue to challenge us,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “Last night around 1,000 people were evacuated. “Most homes and structures in the Village have been lost. I also understand that some residents are unaccounted for and their whereabouts are under investigation.”

Due to the urgency of the evacuation, residents from Lytton are spread out throughout BC.

Premier John Horgan is pledging that the Province will be there to rebuild the Village of Lytton when the smoke clears.

“I want to thank the Mayor of Lytton who was on the ground and seeing within minutes his town burned to the ground,” said Horgan. “When the smoke clears the province will be there to rebuild.”

Horgan also confirmed that incident response teams are on the ground in Lytton, along with a fire cause investigation team.

“We do not yet know what started the fire in Lytton. I think its important to separate the wildfire that was being battled Southeast of Lytton and the fire that engulfed the City. Theses are two separate fires. There was little or no time to warn the City,” added Horgan.

Horgan did confirm that there is anecdotal information suggesting the fire was started by a passing train. This is not yet confirmed.

Calls for assistance have been sent out to other provinces and the Federal Government.

“We have asked for more capacity more resources from across the Country. We’re hopeful that many of those that we have helped in the past will be there to help us today. The Prime Minister stands ready to send in the resources.”

More to come