Province announces $18.4M for Lytton rebuild, next phase of work set to begin Tuesday

The province is providing $18.4 million toward rebuilding the village of Lytton, B.C., which was destroyed by wildfire last summer. 

The next phase of Lytton's rebuild will begin Tuesday, 250 days after residents were forced to flee and watch as their community burned. 

The new money is designated for debris removal, archeological work and soil remediation for uninsured and underinsured properties in the village. It also includes funding for accommodations for up to 30 staff, consultants and construction workers on the ground.

According to B.C. Assessment, 97 per cent of residential and business properties were damaged in the fire, resulting in a partial write-down of those property assessments for 2022.

Delays in reconstruction

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says insurance losses from the fire are now $102 million — significantly more than the originally estimated $78 million — and that the jump in cost is largely due to delays in rebuilding. 

Denise O'Connor lost her home, which she had lived in for more than 30 years, in the fire. 

She said she was pleased to hear about the new funding, but wonders why it's taken so long to not only offer funding, but move forward with the reconstruction of her hometown.

"It's about time," she said.

"It's been eight months."

O'Connor said driving through the remains of the town is like "passing through and looking at an open casket."

"It's still unbelievable, it's just not recognizable."

Since the fire, officials, contractors and volunteers have been on site assessing the damage and sifting through homes and businesses to locate personal items that were intact. The province says it has supported the village with rewriting bylaws after its governance records were lost in the fire.

Time was lost when severe rain caused flooding in the area, and blocked access as roads were impeded and in some cases, completely washed away. 

"Clearly there's a lot of work ahead," Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Monday during a press conference.

Farnworth said the province is working closely with village leaders, the Lytton First Nation and the federal government to determine what exactly the rebuild will look like.

"Part of the rebuilding process must involve the residents and how they would like to see their community rebuilt," he said.

The new funding is in addition to $9.3 million announced last month, which included funding for core operations over the next three years to help village leadership focus on the rebuild without the pressure of trying to generate revenue. 

The province expects the village to be ready for permitting to begin this fall. It is unclear when residents will be able to move back into the village.

O'Connor says she and other residents want more information about when they can go home.

"We just want some ballpark timelines."

Lytton Mayor Jan Polderman said he's hopeful there will be no further delays, and that the site will be remediated by summer so people can get back into the village. 

"People living in hotel rooms and living in five or six different communities is very stressful, and so they wish to return home as soon as possible."

Lytton First Nation already doing remediation work

Lytton First Nation Chief Janet Webster said her community has already started on soil remediation and archeological work. 

"They're going to be following our footsteps," she said. 

Webster is glad to hear the village rebuild is moving forward, and that the village will eventually be able to re-establish some of the services her community used prior to the fire. 

She said her community was unsure of where to start, and spent the majority of last summer frustrated and lacking direction. 

"It was kind of slow at first," she said.

Now, she expects 39 homes, which are being built as interim housing, to be ready for members to move into by the end of March.