Canadian town evacuated as wildfire sweeps in after record-breaking heatwave

A town in Canada has been evacuated after it became engulfed by a fast-moving wildfire following a record-breaking heatwave.

Temperatures in Lytton, British Columbia, reached 49.6C earlier this week and mayor Jan Polderman told news outlets that the ‘whole town’ is on fire.

“It’s dire. The whole town is on fire. It took a whole 15 minutes from the first sign of smoke to, all of a sudden, there being fire everywhere,” he said.

The village of Lytton, with a population of over 200 people, was ordered to be evacuated on Wednesday after authorities warned of a rapidly deteriorating wildfire.