![Lytton still facing rebuilding challenges 3 years after devastating fire](https://media-cdn.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/1605/files/2023/11/lytton-aerial-view-fall-2023.jpg)
Aerial photos of the village of Lytton seen in Fall 2023. (Photo via Mike Blaschuk/Village of Lytton)
The Village of Lytton has marked the 3rd anniversary of the fire which destroyed most of the community, with the Mayor saying there are still challenges ahead.
Lytton Mayor Denise O’Connor says a lot of milestones have been achieved over the past year, including the issuing of 13 building permits and the creation of a temporary village office.
However, O’Connor says locals are facing a lot of challenges in rebuilding, not the least of which is the cost of conducting mandatory archaeological work.
“The quotes that have been coming in for the archaeology work for rebuilding have been anywhere from $20,000 to $80,000,” O’Connor told a news conference ahead of the 3rd anniversary, which falls on June 30th.
The archaeology work in Lytton — mandated under the BC Heritage Conservation Act — is being conducted by a company run by the Lytton First Nation.
O’Connor says another challenge locals are facing is federal funding for Net Zero and fire-resilient rebuilding, which she says remains inaccessible to many property owners.
“What it means is that its following very strict criteria that they have laid out, that some of the builders are saying ‘we can’t provide that because its not covered by insurance,” said O’Connor.
Meanwhile, the MLA for the Lytton area says the provincial government needs to be held accountable for the delays in getting the burned out Village rebuilt.
Fraser Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart, a member of the opposition BC United, suggests the provincial government dropped the ball by in Lytton by handling it with its hands off, or community-led, rebuilding process.
“They certainly stepped forward with money. But it isn’t only about money,” argued Tegart in an interview with Radio NL. “It is about capacity to rebuild, and the expertise that should come from the provincial government, when you look at a small community that needs to totally rebuild.”
Tegart, a member of the public accounts committee in the legislature, has called for an audit into both the costs, and bureaucracy that Lytton has had to overcome to try to start rebuilding.