A CPKC firefighting train sits on the tracks above the village of Lytton, B.C., on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Mayor Denise O'Connor shared an update on the rebuilding progress Tuesday, ahead of the third anniversary of the fire that destroyed 90 per cent of the community. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
LYTTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – Three years after a wildfire destroyed much of the British Columbia village of Lytton, the tiny Fraser Canyon community is still struggling to get back on its feet.
Mayor Denise O’Connor told a news conference ahead of the anniversary that there’s good news, with the first building permit being issued for a grocery store, but bad news too, with some residents deciding not to return to rebuild their lives.
She says the community had about 200 residents before the wildfire destroyed 90 per cent of the structures in the downtown core and it is now home to far fewer people.
The wildfire that killed two people on June 30, 2021, occurred as much of the province baked under a heat dome that had culminated a day earlier when Lytton experienced Canada’s hottest recorded temperature of 49.6 C.
O’Connor says she and her council were elected to rebuild the village, but the challenges of bureaucracy have made the process take longer than anticipated.
She says the third anniversary of the wildfire is a solemn reminder of those who lost their lives and the many homes, businesses, municipal buildings and livelihoods lost.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2024.
