- wlman
Lillooet wildfire closing on town
| News |
The 33-square-kilometre wildfire near the town of Lillooet, BC has forced thousands of residents out of their homes as the fire continues to spread.
The fire jumped to over 3,000 hectares in size, from the initial estimate of 2,650 hectares in size, Monday afternoon. Officials said the fire, fuelled by high winds and dry debris would likely continue to grow.
The Lillooet evacuation order affects the following areas: Kayoosh First Nations. Bridge River. Northeast shore of Seton Lake. The Municipal District of Lillooet west of the Fraser River. T’it’qet. Shalalth.
The fire's front, now burning less than one kilometre from Lillooet, grew Sunday night to about two kilometres in width.
On Sunday night, more than 2,000 people in Lillooet and the surrounding area were ordered out of their homes as the fire drew closer.
Officials said the entire District of Lillooet west of the Fraser River, as well as the surrounding First Nations communities, are under an evacuation order.
There were about 100 residents who decided to stay behind, refusing to leave their homes despite the evacuation order. Officials said they were not going to force them to evacuate, but if they left their property they could be arrested.
The Municipal District of Lillooet east of the Fraser River and Bridge River were issued an expanded evacuation alert. Those residents were being told to be ready to leave their homes at a moment's notice.
A wall of flames could be seen Early Monday morning near Lillooet jumping as high as 300 feet in the air. The flames calmed down later in the morning and a thick blanket of smoke covered the area as ash fell from the sky.
Winds were forecast to pick up throughout the afternoon Monday and would be a challenge to the 60 firefighters and 15 helicopters battling the blaze.
The district is hosting a town hall meeting Monday at 7:30 p.m. PT at the Clocktower Building at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops.
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