Aerial view of Saw Creek Fire south of Lytton, June 19, 2026/via BC Wildfire Service
Not the start to the weekend folks living in the Fraser Canyon were hoping to see.
The BC Wildfire Service, along with the local Fire Department and trained volunteers are working to try to keep a fast-moving wildfire directly south of Lytton from spreading into the homes of local First Nations and the Village itself.
BC Wildfire has declared the Saw Creek wildfire a “Fire of Note,” mostly because of the interest that the fire is already garnering, on top of the impact to traffic through the area, which — as of 10pm on Friday — is completely shut down.
As of roughly 10:30pm, the Saw Creek Fire was listed as 200 hectares in size, which is double the previous estimate just a couple of hours before that.
While that fire was burning extremely hot in the earlier part of the evening, the latest update indicates the overnight temperatures are starting to help the battle.
“The fire is currently burning Rank 2 and 3, meaning a low to moderately vigorous surface fire with a moderate rate of spread and occasional candling of trees along the perimeter,” stated the BC Wildfire Service in its 10:23pm update. “Crews are working along the northwest and south flanks of the fire to establish controls lines, while helicopters assist with bucketing operations to decrease fire behaviour.”
The Thompson Nicola Regional District has since issued an evacuation order for 13 properties in the immediate area of the fire.
“Impacted areas are as follows,” stated the TNRD in its order, issued at 10pm on Friday, June 19. “Properties east of Highway 1 from Florence Road north to Airport Road and any other properties as outlined on the map.”
Map of TNRD evacuation orders and alerts near Lytton due to the Saw Creek Wildfire/via TNRD [Click photo to expand]
“At this time [10pm Friday], DriveBC reports that Highway 1 is closed between Boston Bar and Ashcroft due to this wildfire,” noted the TNRD in its Evacuation order.
Potentially compounding the challenges in fighting the wildfire is the shutdown of the Lytton Ferry.
The reaction ferry, which uses the flow of the Fraser River itself to move from one side to the other, was shut down earlier in the day on Friday due to high water flows due to the remaining snowpack melt coming downstream.
While the Lytton Ferry can only carry a small number of vehicles and people at one time, its shutdown would create logistical challenges for volunteer fire fighters whom live on the “west side” of the Fraser River at Lytton.
While people can still cross over the pedestrian portion of the CN rail bridge crossing into Lytton, vehicles and heavy equipment are restricted.
Voyent Alert issued by the Thompson Nicola Regional District in connection to the Saw Creek wildfire/via Tricia Thorpe
As of 10:30pm, NO evacuation alerts or orders have been issued by the Village of Lytton, nor by the Skuppah Indian Band, whose reserve lands are directly threatened by the blaze.
The fire itself broke out early Friday evening, prompting an immediate response from the Lytton Fire Department.
BC Wildfire would then send in it is own, undisclosed number of personnel, as well as a number of aircraft and structural-protection units.
The addition of those structural protection units would suggest an immediate and longer-term threat to homes in the area.
It comes as the Fire Danger rating in the Kamloops Fire Centre continues to climb, with a number of areas — including south of Lytton where the Saw Creek fire is burning — now listed in Extreme Fire Danger.
Fire Danger map of southern BC, showing a continued drying of areas along the Cariboo and the Southern Interior/via BC Wildfire Service
Weather records for this time of year have continued to be broken in several communities across BC as a high-pressure system lingers over parts the Southern Interior, as well as the South Coast and the Cariboo.
Temperatures in Lytton are expected to moderate after this Friday afternoon’s high temperatures hit 33 degrees as of 3pm.
However, the high-pressure ridge which has been holding the temperatures into the low-to-mid-30’s is going to break down on Saturday.
While this will cool things off somewhat, with a daytime high forecast at 27 degrees, it will also leave the Lytton area under the threat of thundershower activity on Saturday, before temperatures begin to spike again on Sunday and Monday.
Environment Canada is projecting Monday’s high temperature to reach 35 degrees.
