Province faced numerous challenges helping Lytton, B.C., after catastrophic fire

Almost five years after a catastrophic wildfire destroyed most of the Village of Lytton, dozens of people have yet to go home.

A new report has found the province faced numerous challenges and was lacking the legal framework needed as it tried to help Lytton rebuild following the catastrophic wildfire almost five years ago.

The report from the Office of the Auditor General of B.C. reviewed the province’s role following the fire that swept through Lytton on June 30, 2021, killing two people and destroying 90 per cent of the village.

The report found that at the time of the fire, “the province did not have a comprehensive legal framework to guide disaster recovery, and its funding mechanisms did not anticipate the scale of the village’s needs.”

The report indicated that the province expected the village to lead its own recovery, “but the village lacked staff and funds to do this.”

In a news release, Auditor General Bridget Parrish also said that “while the village is on the traditional territory of the Nlaka’pamux, the province was unable to facilitate collaboration between the village and key Indigenous governing bodies.”

After the fire, every new construction required costly archaeological work. This became a source of tension in the community.

The report also found at that despite a provincial commitment of more than $60 million for wildfire recovery, the province lacked necessary oversight of how the village was spending provincial funds.

The release indicates that the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness received incomplete reporting from the village in 2022 and 2023 on how the money was being spent.

“The lack of reporting meant the province could not say with certainty how provincial funds were spent during that period. In 2024, the province implemented a new funding agreement that required the village to submit receipts to receive reimbursement,” the release reads.

Lytton’s mayor, elected in late 2022, said she doesn’t know why reports weren’t originally filed, but said there was staff turnover and a lot of figure out.

“I think it took quite a long time to get everything organized and sorted out. It wasn’t simple at all, very, very complicated,” she said, noting there was nothing in the report that surprised her.

Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Kelly Greene said as the province tried to support Lytton’s recovery, part-way through, “We noted it was very difficult for (Lytton) to maintain records at the level at which the province would normally be required and so we changed our process to accommodate the capacity of their community.”

She added, “changing that process was a really positive experience for records management, the community and the province.”

In 2023, the Emergency and Disaster Management Act became law, which includes provisions applicable to disaster recovery in small municipalities.

 “I think we’ve incorporated a lot of the lessons learned from the experience in Lytton and made sure that our legislation is able to respond better to the more severe circumstances we are finding ourselves in with the changing climate,” said Greene.

What the report doesn’t address is the province’s role in supporting those impacted by the same fire, but living outside Lytton Village.

“Sadly, rural residents were completely ignored and seem to continue to be ignored which is disappointing,” said Tricia Thorpe, a director with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.

“The province funded clean-up of those properties (in Lytton). They removed the debris and did soil remediation. That did not happen if you were outside the Village of Lytton boundaries, despite the fact that, in theory, it should have been the same community, same fire, same day,” said Thorpe, who lost her home during the fire but has since rebuilt.

However, Greene said the province is supporting people outside Lytton impacted by the fire, including with funding for clean up.

Lytton’s mayor said that since the fire, 17 homes have been rebuilt and have people living in them, and that “there’s at least one or two more coming.”

But there are currently only about 100 people living in Lytton, less than half the number from before the fire.

“I do believe we’re going to build back better. We are building back better,” O’Connor said.

“I also believe we can’t be giving up on our town. We have to just keep doing whatever is in our power to move things forward,” she said.

O’Connor said she hopes the findings of the report will help, should another small community face disaster like Lytton did.