Province defends slow progress in Lytton, commits another $18M to 'accelerated' recovery

The B.C. government has committed an additional $18.4 million for recovery efforts in Lytton, as officials defend scant progress at the site 250 days after nearly every structure was gutted by flames.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said the funding will cover debris removal, archaeological work and soil remediation for "all uninsured and underinsured properties" in the village, which was ravaged by a wildfire following days of record-high temperatures last summer.

"We are taking action to speed up the process and support the community through the very challenging task of rebuilding ahead," Farnworth said at a news conference Monday, describing an “accelerated” phase of recovery that will begin Tuesday. "This recovery is a partnership, and the province continues to have the backs of the people of Lytton."

Earlier in the day, MLA Jackie Tegart, who represents Lytton in her Fraser Nicola riding, slammed officials not getting the work started sooner, writing on Twitter that the lack of progress up to this point is “appalling.”

But when she spoke to CTV News, Tegart also expressed optimism that the community may have turned a corner.

“The announcement today is good because it’s not just about money, it's about commitment to a process and expertise,” she said. “In the last eight months we've seen people come and go, we’ve (seen) consultants come and go, we've seen government spend a lot of money and if you ask the people of Lytton who still can't go home if it's money well spent, they would question that.”

THE WORK ABOUT TO BEGIN

The province said work removing ash, soot, metal, bricks and other materials leftover from last year's devastating wildfire will begin Tuesday on village-owned properties before being expanded to residential lots.

Debris will be cleared from more than 200 properties in total, according to the government.

Some of the new funding will also be used to help identify and preserve items of cultural significance in the area, which officials said would further efforts at "collaborative resource management between the Nlaka'pamux Nation and the province."

"This is an area of significant cultural importance, and we need to be careful and respectful," Farnworth added. "That said, we do not want the cost of archaeological work to be a barrier to the people of Lytton."

MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS FOR RESIDENTS

Remediation to remove contaminants from the soil will then pave the way for the next steps in the rebuilding process, including permitting, to begin in the fall. Farnworth insisted that “significant” work has already been done in terms of addressing toxicity and sifting for salvageable materials.

But Lytton residents have taken to social media to express frustration that a non-profit group was the only one to help sift for salvageable personal items after the fire, while questioning the government’s insistence that a fierce wildfire season, destructive flooding and winter weather had caused unavoidable delays.

“It does ring a little hollow that it's taken this long and their reasons for it, none of it makes sense," said Jennifer Thoss, who used to live in Lytton and still owns land there. “The deadlines have come and gone on so many things.”

Her properties were insured, but Thoss says unnecessary red tape and confusion have hampered recovery efforts, as has lack of support for a small community whose administrators were just as traumatized and overwhelmed as every other resident and ill-equipped to spearhead the rebuilding effort.

“There’s a joke in our (community) Messenger group that if only we were a highway, we might have seen some movement,” she said, noting the many routes rebuilt after an atmospheric river caused catastrophic flooding last year. “Money is great, but it feels like there’s a lot of people at the helm and it doesn’t translate into action.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Andrew Weichel