File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Two and Out

PETERS: Trauma piled on top of trauma for the people of Lytton

Jul 15, 2022 | 10:34 AM

THE FACT THAT ANOTHER WILDFIRE is burning down homes in the Lytton area left many of us completely incredulous this week. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic.

We haven’t yet learned what may have caused the Nohomin Creek wildfire, but we know as of Friday that it had already destroyed several homes.

The B.C. Wildfire Service is not particularly busy elsewhere right now, so we hope it is throwing absolutely everything it can at containing these flames and protecting any more properties from being affected.

The fire teaches us at least a couple of lessons.

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First, that no matter how moist conditions are, it doesn’t take long for fuels to dry out.

B.C. received the wettest spring in a long time, leaving areas like Lytton much greener than they usually are at this time of year.

We finally received a high pressure system in the past few days that really set in and gave the B.C. Interior the type of summer-like conditions we typically see at this time of year. Now, after just a few days of that sunshine and heat, we are on fire again.

We cannot drop our guards just because our spring brought so much moisture.

The second lesson this teaches us is a tough one that we have all learned before: life isn’t fair.

Some people get what they don’t deserve and others don’t get what they do.

None of us wants our communities to be threatened by wildfire, but we can all agree that there is no community that deserves this less than Lytton.

The properties and First Nations reserves being scorched right now are all a part of the larger Lytton community that was absolutely devastated by last year’s disaster.

That community has not even had time to properly heal from what happened last year, and now trauma is being piled on top of trauma.

Hopefully the third lesson we can learn from this fire is that British Columbians are always there for each other in times of distress.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.