'Let us mourn': Denare Beach residents ask public not to visit fire-ravaged village
Local volunteers saved some houses from flames by running hoses, sprinklers
Rhonda Werbicki has lived in the Northern Village of Denare Beach, Sask., for 26 years. Her husband proposed to her in their house and they raised their babies there.
Everything the couple had was in that house, which they renovated to suit their family perfectly for more than two decades. Now that house full of memories is gone — ravaged by wildfire.
"It was pretty devastating to lose," Werbicki said.
The evacuation notice for Denare Beach was officially lifted Wednesday morning and the roadblock was removed. Both seasonal residents and visitors can return to the community, which suffered significant damage when the Wolf fire roared into the northern community on June 2. Non-residents are allowed to return, but the village is discouraging it.
More than 200 homes in the village were completely destroyed by wildfire.
Some residents were allowed to return in the last few days. Werbicki and her husband returned to Denare Beach on Monday, after a long and tough journey.
"Just coming down the road was so hard," Werbicki said. "The closer you got to Denare Beach, the more devastation you've seen. And then just coming to where the Alpine Convenience store used to be … I just broke."
She said seeing her entire community in "shambles" and seeing her home turned to "ash" is heartbreaking.
A notice released by the village on Tuesday asked visitors to not trespass on private property, and that any "unnecessary traffic" refrain from entering the community at this time.
Werbicki said she and most community members understand that many people in Saskatchewan are curious about what the wildfire did to the Denare Beach area, but asked that people who don't live in the village at any point in the year, or don't have family there, to give the residents a few weeks to process what happened and deal with their new reality.
"I would just hope that they give us enough respect to let us come home, let us mourn," Werbicki said.
"We just need some time right now. So I think that's just what all of us are asking for."
Resident says community will rebuild
Harley Vliegenthart, a resident of the Denare Beach and local volunteer firefighter, also lost his house, which he shared with his parents and brother. The family lived there for approximately 30 years.
"This was our home. This was my childhood home. I lived here my entire life," Vliegenthart said Wednesday.
Vliegenthart stayed to fight the wildfire until he was ordered to evacuate when the flames got out of control.
"Behind us, it's just this growing orange glow through the smoke there," Vliegenthart recalled.
"There was pieces of embers and ash, falling on us, hopping off the side of the truck and exploding. It's a pretty bad feeling. That could be your house, your neighbour's house igniting anywhere."
The Denare Beach Volunteer Fire Department's team of 11 to 13 firefighters cleared out of the area on June 2, as the fire was reaching the mainland peninsula.
"We pulled out then because we knew at that point there was nothing we could do. We're under-equipped from the get-go and we can't put ourselves or any trucks in front of that flame," Vliegenthart said.
He returned to Denare Beach last week to help with "mop-up" and deal with hot spots in the area. He said he knew what to expect when he entered the village for the first time since the fire.
"I'd seen pictures and videos, and it's bad and it's sad, but there's nothing else that can happen when a wildfire that size reaches a community. This is the result."
Vliegenthart said his family and the rest of the village are overwhelmed.
"It's too much for a lot of people. [To] come here and see the childhood home or the home that you built … everything you've ever worked for is gone."
Vliegenthart said most residents will press on in the northern village, despite the devastation and loss. He expects to see the village be rebuilt around the surviving structures.
"I think for a lot of people there's no other option. This is home. This is where we've made our stand for how long? And for a lot of people, the idea doesn't even pop in their mind of leaving here and going somewhere else."
He is critical of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), and forest fire management and leadership in the province in general. He said the Wolf fire was underestimated and outside firefighting resources were not used to save the Village of Denare Beach when needed.
"I just hope that what happened here can become a staple, a benchmark, an example so that it never happens again to any other community. Something that never should have happened in the first place, I think."
Local volunteers able to protect some houses
Rod Bird, a volunteer firefighter and member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation — which counts Denare Beach reserve, just south of the village, as one of its eight communities — has been working on protecting the area since the Wolf fire first started nearly a month ago.
He said the crew had help from the Prince Albert Grand Council, as well as a small group of family members and other people in and around Denare Beach.
Bird attributes the houses that were saved to volunteers who worked to run hoses down the streets, into homes and on rooftops.
But there came a point when the crew could not manage the situation. The volunteers could hear the fire closing in.
"There's some propane or whatnot blowing up," Bird said.
Flames pushed Bird off-land and onto Amisk Lake in a boat. Volunteers left for Creighton, about 18 kilometres northeast.
Bird said he was one of the "lucky ones," because he managed to save his house by watering it down significantly with sprinklers.
"It worked pretty well. The only thing I lost is a couple spare tires and my garbage can."
Bird said he feels deeply saddened for those who lost their homes.
No cleanup allowed until environmental assessment complete
In its Tuesday notice, posted to Facebook, the village asked residents to visit the village office between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. CST Monday to Friday to register and confirm they have returned to the village. Information booklets will be handed out to those that check in.
Meanwhile, a precautionary boil water advisory is still in affect and SaskTel phone lines are still down within the village.
The village's notice said that before any cleanup can take place on lots that have had structures destroyed, the Ministry of Environment must complete its environmental assessment of the affected area.
The local landfill is not currently approved by the province to accept any materials from the burned out areas, but once the environmental assessment is complete, the village will announce a plan for residents to handle those materials.
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With files from Jeremy Warren