A Report Into Lytton, BC, Wildfire Suggests More Community Fireproofing Needed

A helicopter carrying a water bucket flies past the Lytton Creek wildfire burning in the mountains near Lytton, B.C., on Aug. 15, 2021. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

A report on the wildfire that destroyed the British Columbia village of Lytton concludes the disaster couldn’t have been stopped, even with an area-wide emergency response.

The report, published this month by the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, says scientists found the root cause was “easily ignitable structures and homes, and not just a wildfire problem.”