According to the Vancouver Sun newspaper, two people died, but the total number of victims could be even higher. Authorities still do not know where all the residents are and it is believed that not all of them managed to escape.

The smoke was visible from above, and Congressman Bradley Vis, who represents the area, believes that even 90% of the buildings were consumed by fire. Lytton Mayor Jan Polderman gave the full extent of the fire’s severity in an interview with CBC News.

“The whole town is on fire. It only took 15 minutes from the first smoke signal until suddenly there was fire everywhere,” Polderman said.

“It will be a miracle if everyone survived,” the mayor said.

According to the CBC broadcaster, dozens of people were still looking this Thursday (1st) for relatives who disappeared during the evacuation of the city.. It is still unclear what caused the fire.

Lytton recorded the highest temperatures in Canadian history this week for three consecutive days:

• Sunday (6/27) — 46.1°C
• Monday (6/28) — 47.9°C
• Tuesday (6/29) — 49.6°C (record)

The heatwave hit the entire Canadian province of British Columbia and also Oregon and Washington, USA, which are also setting temperature records.

The number of deaths linked to the unusually strong heat is not yet clear. But Western Canada has recorded 500 deaths since the weekend, an above normal number which indicates that there have indeed been victims of these extremely high temperatures. See the VIDEO above.

This summer of extreme temperatures is explained by a phenomenon called heat dome. It is a huge anticyclone that has formed between California and the Arctic, preventing the formation of clouds and cool winds. Scientists warn that with climate change, such phenomena will become more frequent.