How some Lytton, B.C., residents are rebuilding fire-resilient homes after village destroyed

Tricia Thorpe remembers the day her hometown of Lytton, B.C., went up in flames 'like a blow torch.'

After days of record-breaking heat late June 2021, she says she could see the whole town on fire from her house.

Before she knew it, the fire was coming over the ridge toward her property. Thorpe and her husband jumped in their car to try to get help, not thinking it would be the last time they'd see their home, she says.

"That part was the tough part," Thorpe said, while recounting how some of her animals didn't survive the fire near the junction of the Thompson and Fraser rivers in southwestern B.C.

Nearly nine months after the devastating fire, Thorpe and her husband are rebuilding their house and other structures on their property — but this time she says they're taking steps to fireproof the buildings to avoid the complete loss of all of their belongings should another fire occur.

Fireproofing involves taking steps to make your home as fire-resistance as possible, according to Fire Smart B.C. — a group of organizations that work together to support wildfire preparedness, prevention and mitigation in the province.

Some recommendations outlined in their 19-page manual include: removing low-hanging branches and other debris that are easily ignited by sparks or embers and using non-combustible materials like clay, metal, concrete and asphalt to construct homes.

Thorpe says they've been following the manual to help rebuild their home. So far, she says they've buried electrical cables below the ground to protect them from future fires.

She also says they're using fire-resistant materials such as concrete foam, a metal roof, and concrete floors to construct the home.

"We don't want it to come in the same direction and take us out again," Thorpe said. "We're going to do everything we can to stop that from happening."

But fireproofing isn't just needed in Lytton. Bruce Blackwell, senior associate with B.A. Blackwell & Associates Ltd. — a forestry consultant company that works with government, the private sector, and First Nations — says people living in Metro Vancouver should make sure their homes are safe from potential wildfires.

Blackwell says events like last summer's heat dome show just how parched vegetation can become, making it a ready fuel for fires. 

He says he has been working on fire resiliency plans for governments for over two decades, but says most of them have sat on shelves. He adds that there have been plenty of warning signs in the past.

"Fort McMurray was a wake up call. Slave Lake was a wake up call. Kelowna was a wake up call," Blackwell said. "You've got numerous fires in California.... I'm not entirely confident we got it."