Trial by fire: What a village in BC is teaching the world about climate adaptation

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It might be a tiny community of only 250 people, but the village of Lytton is offering the world a monumental lesson in preparing for the realities of climate change.

On June 30, 2021, a raging wildfire consumed this village in B.C.’s Fraser Canyon in a matter of minutes. Ever since, the community has struggled to rebuild. The downtown core looks more like a war zone. Next to what was once the municipal pool, an “open” sign hangs precariously from a fence, seemingly frozen in time.

The tragedy in Lytton is casting the future of cities and towns all across Canada in a new light: How do they build, or in the case of Lytton, rebuild, for a much warmer, more dangerous world?