Mounties in British Columbia say an out-of-control wildfire that is threatening homes and has prompted evacuation orders near the village of Lytton was accidentally sparked by an RCMP vehicle. The Izman Creek fire, which now covers approximately 130 hectares north of the village, started Tuesday after “an equipment failure of an RCMP trailer resulted in the accidental ignition,” Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said in an emailed statement Thursday. “It appears that the right-side wheel ejected from the trailer ultimately causing a fire in the grass-filled ditch,” Clark added. “The officer stopped to engage the flames with their issued fire extinguisher but the conditions were not favourable and they were unable contain the fire.” The Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued evacuation orders and alerts for properties along Highway 12 on Tuesday. The Lytton First Nation has also issued an evacuation alert for a large area encompassing several reserves on the east side of the Fraser River. “This is a tremendously unfortunate set of circumstances that demonstrates the need for extreme caution and fire awareness during our long wildfire season,” the RCMP spokesperson added. The faulty trailer was part of a response by the RCMP’s underwater recovery team that was returning to the Lower Mainland after searching for a missing swimmer in nearby Seton Lake when the fire started, police said. The B.C. Wildfire Service says three helicopters have been assigned to the blaze to assist ground crews working to bring the fire under control. The Izman Creek fire was among more than 85 wildfires burning in B.C. on Thursday morning, including 31 fires classified as out of control. The blaze has been upgraded to B.C.’s only wildfire of note, meaning it’s either highly visible to the public or threatens homes or properties. The fire was sparked nearly four years to the day after a deadly blaze destroyed much of Lytton and part of the Lytton First Nation, approximately 250 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. Two people were killed in that fire, which was sparked on June 30, 2021, just hours after the area set a Canadian temperature record of 49.6 C.
