Lytton residents hope community can rebuild following devastating wildfire

LYTTON (NEWS 1130) — On Friday, residents of Lytton were able to get their first glimpse of what was left of the village, following a vast wildfire that levelled 90 per cent of the village on June 30.

One woman who lives in the village says that while seeing the devastation left behind was difficult, she hopes it will allow her and the rest of the community to heal.

Edith Loring-Kuhanga is the school administrator for the Stein Valley Nlakapamux School. She says the home she lived in is completely destroyed following the fire and is just one of the dozens of buildings that burned to the ground.

She admits she was unsure about whether or not to go on the bus through the remains of the village but ultimately decided she needed to, so she comes to grips with the devastation.

“I knew it was going to be emotional,” she says. “It was like a warzone. You see all of the hillside that’s burnt. And then as you come into it. You just see nothing but rubble. It’s just like the aftermath of a war. There was basically nothing left.”

“Fire contacted us and recommended that we not go on the tour. That it was just too much of a shock, that we may find it too difficult to go, and also the toxicity,” Loring-Kuhanga says. “He just felt that it was very difficult for all of the crew that is on the ground, so he had recommended that we not go on the tour.”

But she says in her heart she knew she had to see what had happened to the place she once called home.

“I said no, I really need to go like this. I need to. It’s part of my healing that is coming to grips with the destruction and the devastation, and I feel like this is part of my grieving,” she says. “I need to go. I need to see it. I need to feel it. I need to smell it. And I really feel that as part of my healing, to be able to move on, I need to see it with my own eyes. Grief comes in many forms, and this is a huge loss.”

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She says for most of the people touring through the remnants of the village, the only thing they could do was watch the charred outlines of homes and buildings as they passed by.

“It was silence. I think everybody was just in shock. There before your eyes was your community and your small town, and it was basically gone,” she says. “Lytton has a long history with the tribe and the nation, and then also the gold rush. So, to see basically rubble and everything just burnt was pretty devastating.”

“There was so much silence on the bus as we drove through town. Every once in a while, you might hear somebody say that was so-and-so’s house, especially when we got up on to the IR18, but generally, it was silent as everybody was just trying to come to terms with it and to just see it before your eyes.”

She adds while recovering from the fire has been difficult, she’s looking forward to going back to the village when it’s safe and rebuilding.

“We will rebuild. It was difficult to get housing and we basically had zero per cent vacancies. Everybody yesterday that I talked to couldn’t wait to go back and rebuild and our school will be no different. We will want to rebuild and contribute back to the community and rebuilding Lytton, so that it continues for future generations.”