The RCMP has confirmed that an accident involving one of its trailers led to the ignition of the Izman Creek wildfire near Lytton on Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement, RCMP said that at approximately 2:20 p.m., an “equipment failure” of an RCMP trailer started the fire alongside Highway 12 near Lytton.
“It appears that the right side wheel ejected from the trailer, ultimately causing a fire in the grass-filled ditch,” RCMP said in a statement.
“The officer stopped to engage the flames with their issued fire extinguisher but the conditions were not favourable and they were unable (to) contain the fire.”
The BC Wildfire Service was called in and dispatched crews to combat the blaze.
The Izium Creek wildfire is now an estimated 155 hectares in size, as of Thursday afternoon, and has been classified as a wildfire of note.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has issued an evacuation order and an evacuation alert due to the fire. The Lytton First Nation has also issued an evacuation alert.
RCMP said the underwater recovery team was in the area for a search for a missing swimmer in Seton Lake, and was returning to the Lower Mainland when the equipment failure occurred.
“This is a tremendously unfortunate set of circumstances that demonstrates the need for extreme caution and fire awareness during our long wildfire season,” RCMP said in a statement.