Lytton, B.C., still under evacuation order one year after fire

What was once a village is now a fire-scarred wasteland that is uninhabitable. It's been a year since a devastating fire tore through Lytton, B.C., and even now, most of the community is under evacuation order.

What was once the B.C. Village of Lytton is now a fire-scarred wasteland that is uninhabitable.

June 30 marks a year since a devastating fire burned about 90 per cent of the community. Even now, most of Lytton remains under an evacuation order.

“This is a state of local emergency and so nobody can come back until it’s all completely cleaned up,’ explained Owen Collings, who lost his home in the fire and remembers the day in vivid detail.

He says the fire was “absolutely a firestorm, unstoppable.”

A couple months after the blaze, he began working for the village, providing site support. That means he sees the devastation first hand, day in and day out.

“The emotions come and go,” he explained.

“Sometimes I just get a trigger.”