Fire crews continue to fight wildfire near Lytton, British Columbia

Fire crews in British Columbia continued to battle an aggressive blaze on the west side of the Fraser River, south of the village of Lytton, late Thursday night.

The fire, which is described as “very visible from the town of Lytton” has been estimated at 1,500 hectares and “crews are still witnessing active fire behaviour on the Cisco Road Wildfire,” the Wildfire Management Branch of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations said in a press release.

“The strong wind gusts that challenged crews this evening are expected to lessen overnight, and are forecasted to be 10 to 20 [kilometres an hour (km/h)] tomorrow,” the ministry said on Thursday. “Crews will be conducting burn-off operations this evening, if conditions permit, in order to reinforce a control line along the eastern flank of the fire,” the release said, adding that 20 firefighters will remain on site overnight.

“This fire is generating a lot of smoke and wind currents are carrying this smoke into nearby fire zones,” the release said, noting that reports indicate that the smoke is visible in the Merritt, Kamloops, Vernon and Penticton fire zones.

Crews were initially “challenged by strong southerly winds in the area with speeds of up to 40 km/h and gusts of up to 60 km/h” from the wildfire, which was “threatening nearby structures” and forced the evacuation of nearby First Nations communities. Another 60-65 properties are on evacuation alert.

Related: B.C. prohibits certain open fires in a bid to help prevent wildfires

The cause of the fire, which was 0% contained as of Friday morning, remains under investigation, but it is suspected to be human-caused.

The wildfire began on the same day that the forestry ministry banned all Category 2 and 3 open fires from the Coastal Fire Centre’s (CFC) jurisdiction, with the exception of the so-called “fog zone.” The CFC covers all of the area west of the height of land on the Coast Mountain Range from the United States-Canada border at Manning Park, including Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park in the north, the Sunshine Coast, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Haida Gwaii.

The prohibition covers all provincial parks, Crown lands and private lands within the CFC, with the except of the “fog zone,” a band of land two kilometres wide that runs from Owen Point near Port Renfrew to the district boundary of Port Hardy.

A wildfire in Lytton, B.C. continues to grow despite Friday’s rainfall: http://t.co/uEOT8GII5h pic.twitter.com/vu0dcT1LDc

— The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) June 12, 2015

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Fire fighters refuel at Lytton deli. Say the terrain incredibly steep. @GlobalBC @BC1 pic.twitter.com/jOG7FjvGRP

— Catherine Urquhart (@CUrquhartGlobal) June 12, 2015

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Fire fighters refuel at Lytton deli. Say the terrain incredibly steep. @GlobalBC @BC1 pic.twitter.com/jOG7FjvGRP

— Catherine Urquhart (@CUrquhartGlobal) June 12, 2015