‘We’re doing our due diligence’: Dozens of Lytton residents on evacuation alert

Two Lytton reserves are under an evacuation order and dozens of residents are on alert as the Cantilever Bar wildfire continues to burn out of control.

The Cantilever Bar wildfire has triggered evacuation alerts for five properties in the Thompson Nicola regional district and homes on nearby First Nations lands.

The fire is burning 10 kilometres south of the B.C. village of Lytton and continues to burn out of control.

Tonya Peterkin, who has lived in Lytton for more than 20 years, is one of many residents currently on evacuation alert. Her farm was destroyed by the wildfire in 2021.

“It’s pretty stressful when the fires roll through because we lost our town in ‘21, and then in ‘22 we lost most of our farm, but we managed to save our houses,” she says.

“We have a lot of fire extinguishers all over the property … we’re doing our due diligence.”

Peterkin says her family is safe for now, but a change in wind behaviour or weather patterns could change that.

“You’re still looking out the window because its 10 kilometres away and the sparks are coming and big hunks of bark (are) flying on the deck”, she says.

“You just never know if something sparks and hits the dry grass there. (Then) you have your fire, right?”

Bernie Fandrich lives across the river from the fire.

“I realized it had started almost at the identical place where the fires started in 2015, there was a fire that burned the whole west side,” he says.

His family lost their businesses, including his wife’s Chinese History Museum that was only recently rebuilt after being destroyed in the 2021 fires.

“Two sons each lost their home, my daughter had an indigenous art café that she lost”, explains Fandrich.

The 1,262-hectare fire was discovered on Monday, spreading in hot, dry conditions. The BC Wildfire Service said fire growth has predominantly been upslope, to the west and north.

As of Friday 77 firefighters were responding to the blaze, supported by an incident management team, five helicopters and a structure protection crew.

“Embers are more of a concern of taking a property out more than the actual wildfire itself,” says Tricia Thorpe, the Area Director for the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.

On Friday, firefighters focused on the eastern flank of the wildfire, adjacent to the Fraser River and the Trans-Canada Highway.

Crews are using small-scale hand ignitions and other fire suppression.

Thorpe said it’s déjà vu for the small community that is still picking up the pieces from the devastating blaze in 2021.

“We lost everything. Our farm, our home, most of our animals, which was the really devastating part about that,” he says.

“There’s always (that thought), in the back of your mind as summer comes, (that) it’s not summer, it’s fire season.”

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District, Lytton First Nation, Skuppah First Nation and Siska First Nation have put evacuation alerts in place for properties on the west side of the Fraser River.The Lytton First Nation has also issued an evacuation order for two properties.

Thorpe says she is cautiously optimistic about this fire, given where its spreading.

“It looks a lot less angry and its moved quite high up and those two properties that I can see that are on order, it looks like the fire has gone up and around them.”

Cooler temperatures are expected over the weekend as well as light winds, but conditions remain dry.