Rebuild of first home in Lytton finally underway, 2.5 years after wildfire
It’s been a long time coming.
There is finally some encouraging news for frustrated evacuees who have been waiting to rebuild since the disastrous wildfire in the Village of Lytton two-and-a-half years ago.
After facing delay after delay, the first building permit has finally been issued and construction of a new home is underway.
The original home was destroyed in the fire in June of 2021, when most of the community burned to the ground. Since then, property owners have faced lengthy delays in trying to rebuild, even holding a rally in October to draw attention to the issue.
“This is the third Christmas people have been out of their homes, away from their community, so it is a long time and it's difficult to think about,” said Lytton Mayor Denise O’Connor.
But the mayor says things are now moving in the right direction, with a number of other homes and businesses beginning the permit process, including a grocery store.
“Seeing it happen, I think, has spurred other people on to get moving and get going,” O’Connor said. “I think it just provides that sense of hope again, and optimism.”
There have been multiple reasons behind the rebuilding delays, said O’Connor, who also called the slow process “frustrating.”
“There’s been not only the debris removal and the cleanup and the … contaminated soil remediation, and then the backfilling and the archeology through it all,” she said. “But I think we’re in a really good place now."
The mayor said most of the archeological assessments are now complete. The province earlier said about 7,000 First Nations artifacts had been found in the area.
O’Connor expects as many as 20 homes to be finished by Christmas 2024.
“I’m just finalizing my house plans and I hope to start early spring with the build as well,” said O’Connor, who also lost her home in the fire.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From essential goods to common stocking stuffers, Trudeau offering Canadians temporary tax relief
Canadians will soon receive a temporary tax break on several items, along with a one-time $250 rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
She thought her children just had a cough or fever. A mother shares sons' experience with walking pneumonia
A mother shares with CTVNews.ca her family's health scare as medical experts say cases of the disease and other respiratory illnesses have surged, filling up emergency departments nationwide.
Trump chooses Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Gaetz withdraws
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Moscow has tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine, and he warned that it could use the weapon against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use their missiles to strike Russia.
A one-of-a-kind Royal Canadian Mint coin sells for more than $1.5M
A rare one-of-a-kind pure gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint has sold for more than $1.5 million. The 99.99 per cent pure gold coin, named 'The Dance Screen (The Scream Too),' weighs a whopping 10 kilograms and surpassed the previous record for a coin offered at an auction in Canada.
Here's a list of items that will be GST/HST-free over the holidays
Canadians won't have to pay GST on a selection of items this holiday season, the prime minister vowed on Thursday.
Video shows octopus 'hanging on for dear life' during bomb cyclone off B.C. coast
Humans weren’t the only ones who struggled through the bomb cyclone that formed off the B.C. coast this week, bringing intense winds and choppy seas.
Taylor Swift's motorcade spotted along Toronto's Gardiner Expressway
Taylor Swift is officially back in Toronto for round two. The popstar princess's motorcade was seen driving along the Gardiner Expressway on Thursday afternoon, making its way to the downtown core ahead of night four of ‘The Eras Tour’ at the Rogers Centre.
Service Canada holding back 85K passports amid Canada Post mail strike
Approximately 85,000 new passports are being held back by Service Canada, which stopped mailing them out a week before the nationwide Canada Post strike.