‘The trauma is ongoing’: Canadian First Nation flees wildfire for second time in two years

Members of a First Nation in British Columbia have once again been advised to flee their homes to escape record-setting wildfires, just two years after the community in western Canada was devastated in an earlier blaze.

Residents of the Lytton First Nation were ordered to evacuate late on Friday. By Sunday, the out-of-control Stein Mountain fire was just 300 meters (328 yards) from reserve land, burning its way down a steep slope that has stymied firefighting efforts, the community’s chief, Niakia Hanna, told Reuters.

Canada is being seared by a recordsetting wildfire season, with more than 100,000 sq km (39,000 sq miles) burned, and counting – quadruple the area burned during an average wildfire season.

A fire in 2021 devastated much of the nearby village of Lytton, as well as administrative buildings and 41 homes belonging to First Nation members, Hanna said. The community had hoped to start on reconstruction this fall. This year’s fire is about 20km (12 miles) from where the 2021 blaze had burned, he said.

“When you experience something like that, the trauma is ongoing. Just the smell of smoke in the air is enough to trigger those recurring feelings and fear,” Hanna said.

About 800 British Columbia residents are under evacuation orders. As of early Monday, there were almost 400 wildfires burning in the province, 14 of them “wildfires of note”, a reference to their visibility or the threat they pose to public safety.

The province faced a “double-edged sword” on Monday of thunderstorms in the interior, said Environment Canada meteorologist Ken Dosanjh. Storms could bring both welcome rain and lightning strikes that could spark more fires.

Cooler weather is expected in the coming days before temperatures heat up early next week, Dosanjh said.

Canadian wildfires have displaced thousands, destroyed property and sent smoke billowing across the con

tinent, triggering air quality alerts that have affected 100 million Americans.

The blazes have released 290m tonnes of carbon, according to the EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, twice the previous annual record set in 2014.

Hanna hopes this year’s fires will serve as a wake-up call to authorities about the resources needed to manage them.

“We’re embarked on an unprecedented fire season. I don’t think the province or Canada was prepared or had the ability to respond effectively.”