Sask. wildfire response sparks talk of class-action lawsuit

After her home burned on Denare Beach, Linda Lowe said she never wants to see another community go through what hers went through again.

“The community is so scorned right now that we won’t stop until the accountability is shown,” she said.

Lowe was one of about 100 people who attended a webinar with Procido LLP regarding interest in a class action lawsuit in relation to the provincial government’s response to wildfires in Saskatchewan.

“For me it’s not so much the payout,” she said. “It’s holding the government and its leadership accountable for the negligence that they showed to our community during this wildfire.”

Read more:

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Lowe believes the community could have been saved if there were more resources allocated to the fast-moving flames at Denare Beach in early June.

Linda Lowe said her home now sits in a hole in the basement, but people have warned her that the photos don’t capture how bad it really is (Linda Lowe/submitted).

It is not about the money for Rhonda Werbicki, who lost her home in the Denare Beach Wolf fire, it’s about answers.

“We just want clear answers on what actually happened during that fire, why certain things didn’t happen,” she said.

She is interested in the class action lawsuit because it could be an opportunity to reveal the decisions the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency made in the weeks and days leading up to the fire.

“I just want to make sure this never happens to anybody again,” Werbicki said. “Because the same thing will be happening, maybe even in the next few days to weeks.”

The SPSA has said numerous times in public updates there were different levels of firefighting response attending the major fires in some capacity.

Chad Eggerman, a founding partner with the Saskatoon law firm, said he will let people who attended the webinar know if the firm plans to move forward with the lawsuit by July 18.

Eggerman said if the class-action lawsuit goes forward, it could be a years of even decades long process where the firm would only get paid if it wins.

The firm is still assessing if it has the capabilities to host something as lengthy a class-action lawsuit.

One of the challenges the firm is not facing is participation. Eggerman said is trying to keep up with messages and emails from everyone who has expressed interest.

“They just want to share their stories and be part of this, be part of the solution,” he said. “It’s been overwhelming, (a) completely overwhelming response that I frankly didn’t anticipate at all.”

The next step is to find a person to be the representative plaintiff of the lawsuit, he said, then figure out if a Statement of Claim will be filed.