‘It’s real in my books’: Lytton, B.C. left to rebuild after devastating fire amid climate crisis

It has been almost two months since N’kixw’stn James was left homeless by the Lytton, B.C., fire.

“I still have markings of fire on my face,” said James.

Her face, arms and legs have been burned by the hot ashes that fell while she was fleeing.

A week after the fire, she went back to see the damage. The 76-year-old had no insurance and lost everything.

“Everything I had was in there,” said James.

According to Lytton’s mayor, Jan Polderman, the plan is to get infrastructure up and running within a year. Then the community can start building homes.

Anticipating future fires, he wants to build a green community with fire fences, a sprinkler system and fire-resistant homes.

“What we are hoping is that should another firestorm begin, that’ll slow the spread and give residents more time to evacuate,” said Polderman.

2:33 Lytton Mayor on his community’s spirit and plans to rebuild the village

The behemoth fire that wiped out the village was first discovered June 30. It was during a record heat wave when the temperature reached 49.6 C in Lytton.

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“You wouldn’t think a place in interior B.C. would get that way before a place in the Mediterranean,” said John Haugen, deputy chief of the Lytton First Nation.

Those hot, dry conditions fuelled what is now known as the Lytton Creek fire.

It is relentless. On July 7, it was 8,000 hectares. By Aug. 23, it was 84,000 hectares.

When asked if Lytton residents are victims of a climate crisis, Haugen said there’s no doubt.

“It’s real in my books,” he said.

James says Indigenous elders long predicted this climate crisis but no one paid attention to them.

“Mother Earth is heating up in the core and she’s sending up all these messages and human beings aren’t listening, “ said James.

2:42 B.C. wildfire update: 1,528 fires so far this season

James is living with family for now. There’s the weight of having no insurance weighing on her. The village leaders are trying to figure out a plan for those who aren’t insured. For now, their lives are in limbo.

She hopes she can one day return to the place where she was born and raised.

“I could never not want to go back to Lytton, “ she said. “This is where my people are.”