Good morning.
When the historic village of Lytton burned almost entirely to the ground three years ago this past weekend, the damage was so complete, it’s unlikely anyone thought the town would come back to life soon.
But villagers were assured it would.
Then-B.C. premier John Horgan flew over the devastation and promised a new village, one that would show North America how to build a fire-smart community. Another flyover brought federal government officials, who then met with residents and pledged more support. The message was intended to be soothing and hopeful.
Three years on, reporter Justine Hunter visited Lytton and found not much has changed since 90 per cent of it was wiped out by the ferocious blaze.
Federal money has yet to help displaced residents, Lytton Mayor Denise O’Connor said.
The provincial government has sent along money for rebuilding infrastructure and cleanup, but O’Connor noted there is nothing to help people who didn’t have insurance, and that was most homeowners. Even those with insurance will be out of pocket.
This spring, British Columbia’s auditor-general launched a probe into the provincial government’s response, a move the NDP government wasn’t thrilled about at the time. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma now says she welcomes the process.
Only a handful of houses have been rebuilt in the village, once home to 250. New building permits are being issued, but Lytton is a long way from being considered a community: There is no coffee shop or grocery store. The community pool is gone, and all that remains of Lytton Elementary School are a retaining wall and concrete steps that lead nowhere.
The owners of AG Foods have agreed to rebuild, although it is not clear when. The Royal Canadian Legion’s Branch 162 and the Chinese History Museum are preparing to come back. The health clinic will be reconstructed in three to five years. The RCMP say it will be at least eight years before they rebuild the detachment.
But Justine met residents who are determined to rebuild, both the village’s structures and its spirit.
O’Connor, a retired principal of the local elementary school, became mayor after being a vocal critic of the pace of recovery. One of her first acts was to scrap a bylaw that would have required new buildings to be built under the FireSmartBC code. The cost of enhanced safety features was prohibitive, she argued, and would only prevent people from coming back.
But there’s not much she can do to speed up one major hurdle. During the cleanup, ancient human skeletal remains were discovered. The village, estimated to date back to 1858, appears to have been built on top of an Indigenous community, with signs of occupation going back thousands of years.
Through B.C.’s Heritage Conservation Act, private landowners are responsible for avoiding damage to archeological sites through construction activities. So, while the province has remediated the land and prepared water and sewer services for new buildings and BC Hydro has built new power lines, each resident has to hire an archeologist for their own reconstruction.
Melissa Michell, a member of the new council, has taken possession of her new, prefab home. The pieces are intended to allow for quick construction, but that hasn’t happened yet. Michell has been quoted $26,000 for an archeologist to oversee the building.
Still, the lifelong resident of Lytton is preferring to look to the future. She expects to be in her new home by August.
“It finally feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
This is the weekly British Columbia newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.