About 18 per cent of Lytton residents say they will be not be returning to live there.

That’s according to acting CAO Ron Mattiussi. He says a recent survey of residents shows 80 per cent plan to return and, in fact, 25 per cent of residents are already home, who live outside of the town core.

Mattiussi was the CAO in Kelowna during the Okanagan Mountain Park fire in the summer of 2003, when 238 homes were destroyed on the southeast end of the city.

“In my experience in Kelowna in 2003, there were certainly people who sold their properties and didn’t go back. They were just too traumatized.”

More than 100 buildings in Lytton were destroyed by the June 30 fire, including about 70 homes. Almost 40 other structures were destroyed on Lytton First Nation land. According to a short-term recovery plan, there were between 265 and 278 residents who live in the village when the fire happened.

Mattiussi says the evacuation within Lytton boundaries is still indefinite.

“With that many people who were non-insured, we really had to try to coordinate the clean up. Because you really didn’t want to have this lot cleaned up and this one not. So once again, we have to go back to the (Thompson-Nicola Regional District) and provincial government. We needed it and they gave us help, with the coordination of the cleanup.”

The village is also working to hire a contractor who will clean up debris, and Mattiussi says the village is working to get evacuees who are staying in motels into more suitable housing before winter.

A short-term recovery draft plan will be presented to residents during a townhall meeting on Nov. 8.

The village is also doing a survey on what residents need going forward, which is open until tomorrow. Details can be found here.