File photo of Lytton (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

Lytton rebuild

Mayor of Lytton hopes report on 2021 wildfire disaster will lead to change

Mar 17, 2026 | 5:29 PM

LYTTON, B.C. — Four-and-a-half years after a wildfire tore through Lytton, British Columbians are finally getting a look into the challenges that plagued the village’s rebuild as the Auditor General has released her report.

The village was lost to fire on June 30, 2021. The fire razed 90 per cent of the buildings in the community. The wildfire also destroyed 45 homes and buildings in the nearby Lytton First Nation communities, along with homes outside of city limits, within the Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD).

“The province’s legislation and policy were not sufficient to support recovery on that scale,” said Bridget Parrish, Auditor General of B.C.. “For example, it relied on funding programs that the village could not effectively leverage. It also followed an approach that expected communities to lead their own recoveries regardless of capacity. The Village of Lytton, itself, didn’t have the administrative capacity or financial resources to organize and fund its recovery.”

“We were appreciative that they addressed the capacity of a small community and community-led recovery. I think that is a huge part,” said mayor of Lytton Denise O’Connor, who hopes B.C. is now in a better place to respond to disasters.

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“There are huge lessons learned from what went on in Lytton and the role of the province,” added O’Connor. “I hope the province takes (the recommendations) seriously.”

The other issues identified by the auditor general were a failure of the province to find a collaborative approach and a lack of oversight of provincial funds. Overall, it was dubbed a ‘damning report’ by Fraser-Nicola MLA Tony Luck, who thanked his predecessor Jackie Tegart for being a vocal advocate and calling for the report to be authored, believing the rebuild was taking too long.

“I think this is an indictment of this government and what they don’t do,” said Luck. “There is a complete and utter lack of collaboration going on here. There unwillingness to sit at the table and iron some of these things out, hoping other people will take care of the things they are not doing.”

What the report does not speak to are the residents just outside of Lytton, residing in Area ‘I’ of the TNRD. They, too, lost their homes and their community back in 2021.

“The recovery has not talked about that community,” said Area ‘I’ Director Tricia Thorpe. “It has created silos. There is the silo that is Nlaka’pamux Lytton First Nations, that is one silo. There is the silo that is the Village of Lytton and there is the silo that is area ‘I’ of the Thompson Nicola Regional District.” 

Thorpe noted 1 in 4 residents in B.C., excluding the Lower Mainland, live outside of municipalities, making it critical they are not forgotten. She asked if the fire knew no boundaries, why does the recovery?

“I think it was a calamity of errors, I think we can learn a lot from what happened. And I’m hoping whatever path forward is much more collaborative,” said Thorpe.

To date, 33 building permits have been issued in the village, including Mayor O’Connor’s home in the downtown core.

“I just hope the province takes it seriously and puts things in place, needed things to address,” said O’Connor. “Because I think we recognize anything can happen at any time, and can anybody ever be fully prepared for a disaster? I don’t know, but let’s be more prepared than we were for Lytton.”