There are unconfirmed reports suggesting that homes have been lost as part of the Saw Creek fire threatening the Village of Lytton and the surrounding area.

Unconfirmed reports out of the area suggest that as many as four or five homes on Lytton First Nation lands may have been lost or heavily damaged in the early hours of the fire on Friday evening.

However, that has not yet been confirmed, as information is somewhat challenging to source via LFN contacts.

It comes as further homes have been put on alert south of Lytton as of Saturday afternoon.

168 properties in total have been added to the list of those on Evacuation Alert.

So far, evacuation orders have been held thus far to 13 within the Thompson Nicola Regional District, 2 properties that fall within the boundaries of the Village of Lytton itself, and an unknown number of properties included on Lytton First Nations land.

Dozens are believed to have been pushed out of LFN territory due to the Saw Creek Fire, which is now listed as some 600 hectares in size.

Despite the uncertainty, the Area Director for the Thompson Nicola Regional District, Tricia Thorpe, tells Radio NL that for the most part, people in the area are taking the situation in stride.

“People are pretty resilient, but it’s tough,” said Thorpe. “This is, I think, is the first one of these fires which has impacted all three communities [Village of Lytton, TNRD and Lytton First Nation] again.”

“It does bring back memories for a lot of people,” noted Thorpe, who lost her own home in the fire which first wiped out 90% of the Village of Lytton in the summer of 2021. “I’m kind of monitoring Facebook and talking to people.”

Thorpe suggests the same group who continues to hold on to life in the Fraser Canyon has become a bit more battle-hardened and ready for the potential impact of any further losses.

“This time around, we’re more cohesive.” said Thorpe. “We’re a tighter group, and I think we know who to reach out to.”

The fire itself is listed at 600 hectares — or 6 square kilometers — in size.

That’s around double what the fire was pegged at when the TNRD began issuing evacuation alerts late Friday evening as the fire quickly worked its way north up from an initial ignition point along the TransCanada Highway, which remains closed down as of early Saturday evening.

Close to 200 fire fighters are said to be involved in the fight to keep the Saw Creek blaze from doing any more property damage.

This includes over 120 BC Wildfire personnel, on top of volunteer groups from the TNRD, as well as fire fighters from the Village of Lytton and the Lytton First Nation.

The Wildfire Service is reporting the fire through Saturday has been burning in rank two and three, which is not nearly as intense as it had been the day before, when temperatures were topping out at around 33 degrees on Friday afternoon.

No word yet on what may have sparked the initial fire, but the BC Wildfire Service does indicate that it is “human caused.”