Lytton faces wildfire again as flames surge

It’s safe to say that Lytton is a community full of brave people. Almost five years to the day since the start of the Lytton Creek wildfire, which killed two people and brought almost the whole town to ruin in 2021, the people of Lytton once again had to face a forest-fuelled fire encroaching on their town. What was first reported as a 10-hectare fire by the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) the afternoon of June 19, quickly grew to 100 hectares, and then a few

hours later, to 200 hectares. By the morning of Saturday, June 20, the wildfire service was sizing the flame at 600 hectares. A major response was mobilized to protect Lytton. As of about 6 p.m. on Saturday, BCWS has an incident management team assigned to the fire, more than 130 firefighting personnel in response, nine helicopters at the ready and structure protection crews working to keep homes safe. Evacuation orders and alerts were issued for properties in the village, and an Emergency Support Services Reception

Centre was set up at the Battlefield Community Hall for evacuees. And, amid all the emergency response, social media information sharing and news media reporting, were the people of Lytton. Kelly Nelson, 22, of the Lytton First Nation, was one of those people. An employee at G’wsep Gas and Food, Nelson was working at around 4:30 p.m. on Friday when a customer came in and said there was a fire in the area. Nelson said he was panicked a little bit on the inside, but

tried his best to remain calm for the customers. “I was worried about my house,” he said. “Ultimately, it ended up going up in flames.” Despite the loss of his home on Kitzowit Road, where he lived with two of his siblings, Nelson knew what mattered most. “It’s alright. There was no one in the house. Everyone made it out safely and evacuated,” he said. Since then, he’s been trying to look on the bright side, trying to keep morale up as best he can.

One way he did that was by telling jokes with customers. He also told them that, even though his house was gone, he still had the people, which he said was the important part. “Stuff can be replaced,” Nelson said. “Material things, really, while they might be a pain to get back — you can’t replace a person.” He said his manager gave him a place to stay, and his boss made sure he had food and drinks so he was fed and hydrated. Nelson

plans to stay in Lytton as long as he can find a place to live in the longer term. “As far as I’m concerned, I was able to wake up this morning. That’s a pretty good start to the day for me,” he said. “And, you know, the people that I love are safe. (That’s) another really, really important thing.” While Nelson was working at the gas station on Saturday and coming to terms with the loss of his home, Pierre Quevillon, a resident of

Lytton for the last nine years, was facing the return of bad memories from the 2021 fire, in which he lost his own home along with his two dogs, Indica and Bailey. Since then, Quevillon has been living at the Lytton Pines Motel with his new dog, Indica, and his cat, Mignon. “A lot of memories came back,” he said, recalling the losses from 2021 and the previous night, which he said was so smoky, he was worried about his dog’s ability to breathe. Quevillon

was in Kamloops when he heard about the fire on Friday and rushed back home. He said the flames got pretty close, but that the firefighting crews did a good job pushing it away. “I was pretty scared last night. Because in the darkness, we could see the flame right beside the graveyard. And I was sure from here that the graveyard was going to burn last night, I was sure. And finally they managed to take it down. And they pushed (the fire) up

instead.” The motel where he lives is on Highway 1, the other side of which had been evacuated while crews were in the mountains battling the blaze which was still visible, along with huge amounts of smoke in the sky, on Saturday afternoon. Quevillon had a small plastic pool filled with water in front of his room door, working with it as though it were just a normal, hot summer’s day. What wasn’t normal is that he had a front-row seat to the war against

the wildfire, as helicopter crews were moving in and out of the smoke-filled sky with buckets of water to douse the flames. “As long as it doesn’t come down, we’re okay. Because that’s only across the highway, that’s the only thing left that we have of Lytton. If that portion burns, there’s no more Lytton.” He said the firefighting crews did a really good job. Compared with 2021, he thinks this year’s response was larger and faster. “I’ve been here all day, too, and I’m

just looking at them working. And hopefully everything is going to be okay.” Quevillon said the main worry is the wind that Lytton gets, which can come from anywhere and help the flame spread further. He also noted the dry conditions in the area, which he said usually only come in August, and said if fires continue, it could be quite serious. “Because there’s no more water. Global warming is doing something, it has to be doing something, because I remember when I moved over

here we had water, and we had a little bit more snow. And now, we got nothing,” he said. He also wondered why there were evacuations for only one side of the highway, noting the smoke was bad for his animals and a lung condition he has. But, Quevillon said that on Saturday, he felt pretty calm and pretty happy. “I think I’m going to have a better night sleep tonight, because I know the fire is far away.” The nine-year resident of Lytton plans

to stay in town. The only way he’d leave is if the Lytton Pines Motel was lost. The motel owner, Cheri Van Dyke, said the experience since the wildfire was discovered on Friday was a bit nerve-wracking. “Everything comes back from 2021,” she said. “This is deja vu. We’ve been through this already. And yeah, when you see smoke, or flames, like you just — you panic.” She first noticed the smoke down the highway around 5 p.m. on Friday, and didn’t think it would

grow the way it did. It got bigger and started to come her way, and before she knew it, it was too close for comfort. She said she stayed up late into the night, watching as firefighting crews fought the flames. “Last night was scary because it was — there was a lot of flames,” she said. “The trees were just like exploding. And I got some half decent night-time pictures. And then if you looked further down the highway, it was just an orange

glow. And that was a little bit unnerving.” Van Dyke recalled the 2021 fire, which she said was really scary. She said she was told to evacuate, but didn’t. She stayed, and ended up filling her rooms with firefighters for over a month. Speaking about why she stayed, she spoke of her father, Francis Van Dyke, who passed away in 2020. “If he was still here, he would have stayed. It’s just the kind of man he was. So, I thought, no. I’m just going

to stand my ground.” She noted the response from the B.C. authorities was good this year. Van Dyke plans to stay in Lytton, as she was born and raised in the town. That being said, she remarked, “I’m just a little bit tired of all this. I’ll just be glad when this is out.” Coming back to 22-year-old Kelly Nelson, he said he was glad for the work the wildfire protection services were doing. “It’s a really important job,” he said. “If they can even

just save one house, that’s one more place that doesn’t have to be — that people don’t have to be disturbed from, they don’t have to be displaced.” “And I’d like to say thank you to them,” he said. He also said the community of Lytton has been really supportive, pointing to the Battlefield Community Hall that was set up for evacuees. He said it’s a place people can stay the night, sleep, eat, and have entertainment. Near the end of the interview with Nelson,

Black Press Media commented on the resilience of the people of Lytton. “You are correct,” Nelson said. “We are a rather resilient people.”

Lytton, wildfire, BC Wildfire Service, June 19 2026, June 20 2026, evacuations, Battlefield Community Hall, Emergency Support Services Reception Centre, Kelly Nelson, Pierre Quevillon, Cheri Van Dyke