Lytton residents cast doubt on TSB finding train not linked to catastrophic fire

Some of Lytton's residents say they don't accept a Transportation Safety Board finding that railway activity played no part in igniting a fire that devastated the town in late June and they're disappointed the community was not consulted during the four-month-long investigation.

On June 30, 2021, hundreds of people living in and around the village of Lytton, located in the Fraser Canyon northeast of Vancouver, were forced to flee as the fire raced through the community.

Smoke and flames, spread by extreme wind and blistering heat consumed the village in one of the most destructive fires in recent B.C. history. Two people died and 90 per cent of the buildings in town were destroyed.

The TSB findings released on Thursday found that a train passed through town 18 minutes before the fire was reported, and that the ignition point for the fire was less than two metres from the centre of the CN Rail track west of the downtown core.

But the report concluded there was no evidence to prove the trains were responsible for the catastrophic fire.

Lytton resident Alfred Higginbottom of the Skuppah First Nation said the report failed to provide accountability and earn the trust of the community.

"Nobody is really going to accept that finding at all, in my view anyways, and from numerous people that I have talked to — they don't accept it either. It's not only me. It's the community and the population around here in general," he said, adding the community members who have been spread out across the province since the fire should have been consulted.