Lytton, British Columbia, as it seemed last June 7, almost a year after a forest fire leveled much of the village and Lytton First Nation, in the distance. Photos and video: Melissa Tate • Video editing: • Timothy Moore • Archive research: Paula Wilson
Almost every day, Erin Alec drives through the village of Leaton, British Columbia, where she lived before burning to the ground in a wildfire. during a record heat wave last year. Each time she saw the metal futon she was sitting on when she first realized she had to evacuate, lying in a pile of rubble where her home had once been.
This is because the city still looks like a disaster area. Destroyed buildings lie throughout the community. Traces of explosions and debris from cars and propane tanks are still scattered on the streets. Pieces of metal are strewn around the sidewalks.
And a year later, the house Mrs. Alec rented was still gutted.
“The aspect of recovering from this is almost more harmful than the fire itself,” Ms Alec said, adding that Lytton’s slow pace of recovery and lack of support were causing her continued grief.
“We’ve been in this for almost a year, and only a few weeks ago I heard from the village for the first time about a temporary home, after months of camping and finding an apartment.”
Erin Alec is working on a beadwork project in her temporary office at Skuppah First Nation. Her old apartment in Lytton is now in ruins, including the futon she was sitting on when she learned a fire was coming.
Cities usually finish cleaning up and start rebuilding just a few months after a major fire disaster. When Slave Lake, Altai, was largely destroyed by fire in 2011, the foundations for new homes were being laid just five months later. It took 10 months to begin removing debris in Lytton.
The difference in Lytton is the archaeological significance of the land beneath the city.
The whole village is considered a cultural heritage. Experts believe that the indigenous people first settled there about 10,000 years ago and used the area as an important meeting place between coastal and inland groups. The chances of finding artifacts or human remains there are considered very high.
Governments, insurance companies and residents see the restoration as an opportunity to honor the history of indigenous peoples by conducting archaeological work.
“We have been there since time immemorial,” said Ms. Alec, who is a member of Lytton First Nation. As frustrated as she is with the pace of recovery, it is important for her to treat human remains and historical sites with respect.
Marmots now feed through ruined homes in Lytton. The fire leveled many buildings, but left some standing, such as the one with the blue-green roof on the left; it belongs to a member of the Lytton First Nation, whose reserve has also been severely damaged, but has largely been cleared.
Leighton in 1889 or 1890. The city was founded in 1858, named after the British colonial secretary of the time, the writer Edward Boulevard Leighton. CS Bailey and Co. Vancouver City Archives A local family of gold pans in the 1890s. The Fraser Canyon gold rush, which began a few miles upstream from Lytton, was a catalyst for settlement in inland British Columbia. Archives of British Columbia
Rebuilding a city that was as completely destroyed as Lytton is difficult enough. The addition of an unprecedented amount of archaeological work on every property in the city has slowed the work to creep in as governments and insurance companies invent logistics and financing. Insurers have no obligation to fund archaeological work, and deciphering costs and responsibilities is a challenge.
As a result, the village appears to be largely frozen in time one year after the fire, and residents’ lives are paused as they live in motels and temporary housing around the countryside. People like Mrs. Alec have to drive for an hour or more on windy mountain roads just to see doctors or buy groceries.
The removal of the rubble – the first step in rebuilding the city – began only about two months ago, as it also involves archeological work. Traffic is not yet allowed to stop in the area, as toxic pollutants are not yet well cleaned. And the few lucky ones whose homes did not burn down in the center of the community are only allowed short visits, accompanied by security guards.
“When you think of typical archeological sites, you think of undeveloped areas, where it’s basically just bare land. You are not rummaging through existing established communities, ”said Rob de Prouis, national director of consumer and industry relations at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, which represents insurers in the country. “It’s one of the biggest things that makes a place unique.”
The archeological work is methodical and covers the whole city. Monitors – many from Lytton First Nation – watch excavators remove debris. If something important is discovered, workers begin sifting the soil for further discoveries.
The early stages of clearing the debris revealed small objects such as arrowheads. They did not cause much delay. But authorities say there is a possibility of more significant finds, such as burial sites, which could lead to much longer delays as experts are called in to decide what happens next.
Lytton has long been known as the “hot spot of Canada” because it regularly sets record high temperatures. Last June 30, the day of the fire, the air temperature reached 49.6 C, the hottest in history in Canada.
Lytton residents complain that local authorities are slowly turning things around, leaving their lives in the dark. Governments, for their part, said coordination with all the various insurers involved was disappointing.
All the while, the total cost of disaster for individuals, governments and insurance companies continues to rise.
Earlier this year, IBC said expected insurance losses had risen to $ 102 million from an initial estimate of $ 78 million due to delays. There are limits on how much insurance companies will pay, and Mr de Prieis said homeowners may have to make decisions to reduce the monthly payments they receive in order to keep their coverage longer.
The British Columbia government has committed more than $ 48 million to support rural staff, fund initial debris removal and archeological work, and restore infrastructure.
Lytton Mayor Jan Polderman said recently that he would not run again when local elections are held in October. He added that the village council has worked tirelessly despite staffing challenges and meager four-figure salaries. One councilor resigned after the fire due to community negativity. Mr Polderman said he was also affected.
“I eat, sleep and drink disaster seven days a week,” he said.
Residents and visitors pass through the burned debris of Lytton on Highway 12, but are not allowed to stop or leave their vehicles. Signs warn to keep windows closed due to the potential danger of toxic materials after a fire.
Expeditionary journals from 1808 describe Lytton as an established community, where researchers were greeted by about 1,200 locals. Located at the confluence of the Thomspon and Fraser rivers, the area then known as Kamchin or Kumshin (depending on how the name of the indigenous population is Englishized), had plenty of food. The magazines note that the people there “ate well and looked long-lived.”
Michael Klassen, an archaeologist from Klahanee Heritage Research who works in Lytton, said the area is central to the history of the Nlaka’pamux people. “The archaeological significance of this site rivals that of any other ancient settlement in Canada,” he said.
Immediately after the fire, Mat Pasco, chairman of the Nlaka’pamux Tribal Council, began working on ways to streamline the archaeological aspect of the restoration. The NNTC, while not a legal indigenous group under the Native American Act, represents several First Nation groups in the Lytton area. Ensuring that the archaeological work would be carried out correctly was of paramount importance to Mr Pascoe.
“At one time it was a living community, and it’s very important for us to understand that and defend it, as Western society wants to protect a place like Rome,” said Mr Pascoe, who lives north of Leeton near Ashcroft, British Columbia. “It’s vital. So much of this province was built without the consent and respect of our people. ”
Just days after the fire, NNTC signed an agreement with the federal government to provide $ 2 million in funding for its initial operation. Mr Pascoe said the deal was partly intended to ensure that Lytton residents would not sit for months waiting for the federal government and the governments of British Columbia to come out, which would provide the money.
NNTC is also working with the British Columbia government to overhaul a lengthy and expensive process in which each property owner will have to pay $ 10,000 for an archeological permit before work can begin. Instead, the government agreed to create a single permit for the entire city, ensuring that the cost of the excavations would not be borne by homeowners.
“This is revolutionary … we have never seen anywhere a process in which the federal …
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