Image: CFJC Today / File / Lytton June, 2022, nearly one year after the fire.

By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Do we really need to rebuild Lytton?

Jun 18, 2023 | 6:00 AM

THAT’S A QUESTION that needs to be asked, in light of the fact that there hasn’t been a speck of rebuilding since a disastrous fire levelled the town in June of 2021. No building permits, no nails in boards, no trusses seen on the skyline. And yet life goes on. The highway and railroads are still being used. So do we need to spend the millions of dollars to rebuild?

Lytton is a small community, and became less important with the building of the Coquihalla Highway and the fading of the importance of the Fraser Canyon. It is an extremely important historical site, although most of the visible history was wiped out in the fire.

But while there is a strong case to just pay out the residents and blot the community from all but the history books, there is also a case to rebuild. It is an important hub for the railway, there are businesses that service the surrounding countryside, including a significant First Nation community.

The area has great potential as a tourist destination. And most importantly, there is a community of people who deserve to be able to return home to a community they have chosen to live in. It is sad things can’t move more quickly, but soil remediation and clearing operations take a lot of time. Then there’s backfilling and levelling, and determining how the homes will be rebuilt.

With the propensity for wildfires, the rebuild must consist of homes that are more fireproof, landscaping that is going to be less of a fire danger. Costs will be high, so if there are ways to move more quickly it would be helpful, before the costs escalate totally out of sight.

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While there may be a better economic case to be made for not rebuilding, the human case is the trump card that takes the hand. But if the rebuilding doesn’t start happening, there will be no human case, because the sense of community that has brought this town together will die if residents lose hope.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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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.