Heatwave record village overwhelmingly burned in wildfire

A wildfire has burned 90% of the village that recorded Canada's highest ever temperature, the local MP says. Brad Vis said the fire had caused extensive damage to Lytton, in British Columbia, and to surrounding critical infrastructure.

Jan Polderman, mayor of Lytton, told the BBC he had been "lucky to get out with my own life".

"There won't be very much left of Lytton," he said. "There was fire everywhere."

Mr Polderman told the BBC's Newshour programme his town was engulfed by a "wall of fire". He had earlier ordered people to evacuate, saying flames had spread through the village in just 15 minutes.

The village this week recorded the country's highest ever temperature of 49.6C (121.3F).

Abnormally high temperatures have been recorded in swathes of North America.

British Columbia, in western Canada, recorded 486 deaths over five days compared with an average of 165 in normal times.

Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe blamed the extreme weather. The western province had seen only three heat-related deaths over the past three to five years.

Many of those who died, Ms Lapointe said, had been living alone in unventilated homes.

Temperatures have been easing in coastal areas of Canada but there is not much respite for inland regions. The weather system is now moving eastwards over the Prairie provinces - Alberta and Saskatchewan and parts of Manitoba have been placed under Environment Canada heat warnings.

What happened in Lytton?

Residents fled on Wednesday, many without their belongings, as smoke and flame engulfed the village, which is home to about 250 people and located about 260km (162 miles) north-east of Vancouver.

"Within about 15 minutes the whole town was engulfed in flame," Mayor Polderman told the BBC.

"People basically just grabbed their pets, grabbed their keys and got into their car and fled."

Winds of up to 71km/h (44 mph) were pushing the fire north into the community on Wednesday evening, CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe reported. Hot, dry and windy conditions in the area could mean the fire was moving at 10 or even 20km/h.

In a social media post on Thursday, MP Brad Vis said he would not be attending Canada Day activities because he was devoting all his time to the emergency situation.

"There are reports of several injuries. The situation is ongoing," he wrote.

Residents were being directed to nearby communities where reception centres were being set up, while the British Columbia Wildfire Service was diverting crews and equipment from other areas to respond to the fire.

Jean McKay, who left the First Nations community of Kanaka Bar, about 15km from Lytton, with her 22-year-old daughter Deirdre, told CBC how hard emotionally it had been to leave their home.

"I cried. My daughter cried. She said, 'I don't even know why I grabbed my key. We might not even have a home.' I said, 'Yeah I know. As long as we're together we'll survive.' I just pray that our houses are OK."

"You can't even comprehend it," Lytton evacuee Edith Loring-Kuhanga told CBC Radio. "Our entire town is gone."

Before the fire, Lytton had recorded the highest temperature ever seen in Canada on three consecutive days.