The Mayor of Lytton is hopeful the full scope of rebuild work will begin this summer.

The cautious optimism for rebuild work to begin comes nearly two years after a catastrophic wildfire destroyed much of the Village of Lytton.

Mayor Denise O’Connor explains she is hesitant to say a firm date for when the official rebuild work could begin. 

“We’ve been disappointed so many times. I hope this summer, I really do. There’s a very good chance that it will, but we don’t know any specific timelines yet.”

Currently, O’Connor says archeology work and contaminated soil removal are still going on noting that backfilling needs to be complete before rebuild work officially gets underway. 

“I think once buildings are starting to be rebuilt, you know that really will provide that sense of hope and positivity for people right when they see that visually, that’s going to make us gonna make all the difference in the world.”

O’Connor does go on to say there has been natural growth in the village, which has provided some positivity for the community.

“We did see tulips growing and blooming in various spots, lilacs coming up and there were comments made about those pieces adding a piece of hopefulness for people, and I think that’s that growth really represents.”

Meanwhile, she says work is underway amongst

 community members, to fire smart the village.

“We do have an active fire smart group and it’s not just the village, the village is a part of it but it’s also the First Nation and the Regional District, we are all a part of it together.”

O’Connor says the group has been working on things such as yard waste removal. 

“There’s good talk going around for people to pick up the properties that are still there, that people can clean up their yards; so absolutely, we’re active in that; who knows who knows what the year is gonna bring, nobody knows.” 

Back in January, O’Connor told NL News she was optimistic shovels rebuild work would begin as early as March or April, however, due to the ongoing archeology work, timelines were still up in the air.