Lytton, B.C., to end state of emergency almost 2 years after most of village was destroyed by wildfire
Council vote means end of evacuation order and residents can return to properties
Council in Lytton, B.C., has voted to stop renewing a state of local emergency that began on June 30, 2021, when a wildfire almost completely destroyed the village.
The end of the local emergency, which is due to come into effect Monday, June 19, effectively means residents can return to their properties and rebuilding work can accelerate.
"We want to get people in. We want to get people back to their properties and start the work they need to do to start rebuilding," said Mayor Denise O'Connor.
About 250 people once had homes in Lytton, while Lytton First Nation has 56 reserves in and around the village, around 150 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
Residents in those communities lost everything when a wildfire tore through the village following record-breaking heat in the early summer of 2021. Homes and businesses were burned to their foundations, and two people died.
A report to Lytton's council this week said that the state of local emergency (SOLE) was put in place for "safety, protection of property and to allow remediation works to be undertaken."
The report said the SOLE had been renewed weekly since June 2021 to allow workers and crews to access privately owned properties under B.C.'s Emergency Program Act, but it was no longer needed.
"The SOLE was deemed necessary by the [Village of Lytton] due to the extensive remediation and archaeological work that was taking place over the last 18 months," reads the report.
"The shift of focus from recovery to rebuild means the SOLE is no longer necessary."
On Wednesday evening, Mayor Denise O'Connor and Lytton's four councillors voted unanimously to stop renewing the SOLE, which will now end on Monday.
"I want to thank staff and Mayor O'Connor for working on this. This is such a great milestone," said Coun. Jennifer Thoss at the meeting.
WATCH | Lytton Mayor Denise O'Connor discusses the rebuilding of her village:
Residents no longer restricted from properties
Staff said Wednesday night that removing the SOLE will rescind an evacuation order for the community.
"This opens up access for property owners to make plans to attend to their property, where feasible, and begin to plan their rebuild," said the report to council.
O'Connor said over the past two years, the village has been an active construction site as crews removed debris and contaminated soil from the village. B.C. Hydro has been putting up poles and power lines while other workers have been replacing water and sewage systems.
"The bulk of that is finished, so there's no reason why people can't go in."
The village said it will post notices over the cancellation of the SOLE on its website and at a village office that was set up in nearby Boston Bar along with other locations.
Many residents have voiced their frustrations over the slow pace of recovery in Lytton.
Danny Yan, the owner of the Lytton Hotel, has been living in Richmond since the fire. He said he was pleased to hear the news about the state of local emergency lifting and increased access to the village.
"I want to rebuild. I am happy," he said.
Jessoa Lightfoot, who lives just outside the village of Lytton and served as its mayor from 2008 to 2018, says the removal of the SOLE is "a big major step for a lot of people."
"Generally people will be relieved," Lightfoot told CBC from her home. "People really need that sense of belonging, they've been displaced for too long."
Residents of the village and surrounding areas who used Lytton as a hub haven't been able to see a neighbour on the street or sit on their lot and relax for nearly two years, she said.
"The citizens that were displaced will feel hope that we are proceeding, hope there is a future available to them, that they can come back and live again in the community," said Lightfoot.
A year ago, the federal government announced it would spend $77 million to help rebuild the village in a way that could better withstand fires, with the majority of the money going to new, fire-resistant public buildings like community centres and libraries.
The provincial government has committed more than $49 million to the rebuild.
"We know that for people waiting to get back to their properties and to rebuild their homes and lives, the recovery process can't move fast enough," said a provincial release marking the one-year anniversary of the fire in June 2022.
"We will not stop working until everyone can see the pathway to returning home."
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With files from Zahra Premji