PHOTOS: A protest 840 days in the making

The wind was blowing, as it always does, as dozens of Lytton residents protested the delays that have left the village with no rebuilt structures more than two years after it burned down.

Residents carried signs. The messages were clear: “We need our homes,” “Stop the delays,” and “We want to go home.” Some wore handmade cardboard signs bearing the number 840—the number of days since the 2021 fire that swept through the village.

Although politicians have repeatedly promised that rebuilding will start soon, it has yet to happen, and residents are facing another winter where it appears unlikely that any new construction will happen. They’re also facing increasing worries over potentially large additional archaeological costs.

Through the media, residents have repeatedly sounded the alarm about a perceived lack of urgency to resolve the various barriers slowing the recovery. But Wednesday’s protest was the first time they gathered in numbers to demonstrate.

Current editor Tyler Olsen was at Wednesday’s protest. We’ve collected his photos from the protest below.

You can read our Wednesday story on the genesis of the protest here.