Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

LYTTON RECOVERY

Village office, community hub coming up on Lytton rebuild checklist

Apr 21, 2025 | 4:57 PM

LYTTON, B.C. — Rebuilding the Village of Lytton has taken far longer than residents expected, but houses are taking form with a few residents moving in this spring.

During a record-breaking heat wave in June of 2021, a wildfire burned most of the homes, businesses and service buildings in the municipality. This coming June will mark four years since a fire reduce many Lytton homes to ash and it will also mark a homecoming for some of the Lyttonites who have been waiting to move back.

“All of the people who have rebuilt in town — and I think I counted nine homes right now that are either occupied or close to being occupied — out of 18 (homes) that are on the go are people who have lived here for a long time,” explains Lytton Mayor Denise O’Connor. “Lytton is their home and they’re not going anywhere else.”

The rebuild was slowed by a myriad of factors including extensive debris clearing, soil contamination, archaeological assessments, infrastructure replacement planning and more. The lengthy timeline even prompted a review by BC’s Auditor General.

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However, O’Connor says she and others are staying focused on the tangible progress that has been made.

“You know, really the building started full force about a year ago. What happened in those other three years, two-and-a-half years, I still don’t have the answers. But I’m not focusing on those. We’re still looking ahead, right? We’re moving forward. That’s our goal.”

Homes are going up, but many of the businesses and basic services a municipality needs aren’t there. Construction hasn’t started yet for a grocery store or a health centre.

“Four years, and again, you look at the lot over here where our medical centre was, and there’s nothing happening.”

However, construction of the village office is set to begin this summer and a Request for Proposals has been put out for a community hub.

“And it’ll be right over here with a pool and outdoor space, and our community building,” explains O’Connor. “We have a public works building that’s actually under construction right now at the far end of town, so there’s just lots going on here.”

Some of the 200 residents who were living in the town at the time of the fire have decided not to move back. But the mayor says many people, herself included, are sticking it out.

“We shared that experience of the tragedy, right? The trauma,” she said. “We’re also sharing the experience of building a new home and moving into a new home — which is not typical, I think, of many other communities.”