Lytton, B.C. woman says insurance at risk over delays to rebuild fire-ravaged village

A Lytton, B.C., woman is calling on the province for help as she faces the potential loss of an insurance settlement over the loss of her home in the fire that razed the village to the ground.

Tiffany Callewaert Haugan’s home was among the scores of properties destroyed when a wildfire virtually wiped the community off the map on June 30, 2021.

That was more than 18 months ago, and the townsite has yet to be remediated for rebuilding. However, Callewaert Haugan says her insurance company has a two-year deadline to rebuild.

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“For the first time I am feeling anger in the whole thing,” Callewaert Haugan told Global News in a Zoom interview.

With a deadline to get to work rebuilding fast approaching, Callewaert Haugan said the insurance company, CNS — now known as Intact Financial — has turned down a request for an extension.

“I think it is unbelievable the government has not stepped in and made these insurance companies do this, by now at least,” she said.

“We have no idea what to do.”

Callewaert Haugan can take the insurance company to court to fight for an extension, however the process would be both time-consuming and expensive.

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Meanwhile, construction at the townsite cannot begin because archeological work is still underway.

The village was built on a culturally significant site to the Nlaka’pamux Nation and the B.C. government has committed to identifying and preserving any archeological findings before any rebuilding can begin.

“We are calling on insurance companies to provide extensions,” Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma told Global News.

“We are working with the Village of Lytton to try to understand why these extensions are being denied.”

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Local MLA Jackie Tegart, who represents the Fraser-Nicola riding for the BC Liberals, said the lengthy delays in rebuilding the town are unreasonable.

“Two years ago, this community burned to the ground and not a shovel has gone in the ground to build a new house,” she said.

“They are buried in bureaucracy.”

Both the provincial and federal governments have pledged funding to help Lytton rebuild, but the money has yet to make its way to the community.

Residents have not been provided with a firm timeline about when rebuilding work can begin, either.

And while Callewaert Haugan said she still hopes to raise her family in Lytton, planning for that future is getting harder by the day.

“We are all impacted,” she said.

“I don’t think anyone feels confident and safe in their future with their home.”

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