A wildfire north of Lytton was sparked when an RCMP trailer lost its wheel along Highway 12, the police service confirmed Thursday.
In a statement to CityNews, Staff Sgt. Kris Clark explained that at approximately 2:20 p.m. on Tuesday, an “equipment failure of an RCMP trailer resulted in the accidental ignition of the Izman Creek Wildfire (K70783).”
“It appears that the right side wheel ejected from the trailer ultimately causing a fire in the grass-filled ditch. The officer stopped to engage the flames with their issued fire extinguisher but the conditions were not favourable and they were unable contain the fire. BC Wildfire Service was immediately notified and quickly dispatched crews to combat the fire,” Clark explained.
The Izman Creek fire shut down Highway 12 and has forced the evacuation of nine properties considered to be in imminent danger.
As of Thursday morning, the fire is believed to be around 130 hectares. The BC Wildfire Service has three initial attack crews, one unit crew, three single resources, and three helicopters fighting the blaze.
The RCMP team — the Underwater Recovery Team — was in the Lytton area on Tuesday after being deployed to Seton Lake to help with the search for a missing swimmer. Clark explains that the team was on its way back to the Lower Mainland when the ignition happened.
“This is a tremendously unfortunate set of circumstances that demonstrates the need for extreme caution and fire awareness during our long wildfire season,” Clark said.
source: CityNews photo: BC Wildfire Service
