'I want a home back again': One year after fire, Lytton, B.C., residents mourn slow recovery

It's been a year since the residents of Lytton, B.C., and those in neighbouring communities lost everything when a wildfire spread through the village, burning down homes and businesses, and killing two people. 

In the days leading up to the fire, the community — home to about 250 people — had set heat records for the entire country, reaching as high as 49.6 C. The grass was dry, and the air was torrid.

In a matter of hours, the town burned to the ground, leaving behind a few structures, mostly charred metal and bricks. 

A year later, not much has changed. 

Fabian Duncan bounced around from place to place in different communities over the past year, he says. Now he's back on Lytton First Nation land. The Nation has 56 reserves along the Fraser River, located in and around the Village of Lytton. 

Duncan, who saw the fire ignite, says he still struggles with the emotional impact the fire had on him and his loved ones.

"There was smoke everywhere and the flames were knee-high," he said. 

"It was not normal. I just told my buddy that we gotta get out of here."

He says he hopes everyone who lost their homes will be able to rebuild and return to the area.

"A lot of my peoples lost everything they worked hard for."

The cleanup and rebuilding of Lytton has been a slow, arduous process that's left some residents wondering if they'll ever be able to return home. 

"Why is this not cleaned up yet? Why is this taking so long?" Denise O'Connor asked when she took CBC on a tour last week of what used to be her home.

"I want a home back again."

After staying in hotels and motels in Kamloops and Merritt, and moving in with her daughter in Quesnel over the last year, O'Connor now lives in her childhood home on the south side of Highway 1, where structures were untouched by the blaze.