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Linda Lowe lived in her Denare Beach home for the past 31 years, before she and her husband watched it burn on June 2.
On the day of the village’s evacuation order, Lowe’s house cameras showed fireballs flying onto her property as the air became progressively more smoky.
She said she started watching after the community’s 12 volunteer firefighters were told to leave Denare Beach, “because no help was coming and they wouldn’t be able to continue fighting it.”
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 the damage really is. (Linda Lowe/submitted)
By 8:30 that evening, her cameras disconnected.
Then, just after 9 p.m., she got several notifications from her security system saying her garage door, house door and windows were “broken into.”
At that point, she knew the fire had spread into her home.
Her home security provider called asking if she needed help, but Lowe told them, “There’s no help to send. The whole community is burning.”
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Returning home
After nearly three weeks under an evacuation order, Denare Beach began lifting its restrictions on June 22, allowing some residents like Rhonda Werbicki to return.
But nothing could mentally prepare her for what she saw driving up to the place where her home once stood.
“It was just surreal. I’ve gone down that road a million times over the last 26 years and just to see the devastation. It was one thing when you lose your home, but when you’ve lost your community, it just takes it to a whole new level,” Werbicki said.
Although she lived in her Denare Beach home for the past 26 years, there are only a few remnants that remain, including a ceramic lighthouse.
The lighthouse that Rhonda Werbicki received as a wedding gift 25 years ago once stood in front of her home. While everything burned around it, the lighthouse managed to survive the blaze (Rhonda Werbicki/submitted)
In contrast to Werbicki, Lowe hasn’t gone back yet.
The evacuation order for Denare Beach was fully lifted Wednesday, and Lowe said she plans on returning tomorrow with her husband and son.
“We’ll go up the three of us together, because I think the three of us need to see it together and give us a little bit of closure,” Lowe said.
Even though she hasn’t been back yet, Lowe has seen photos and videos of the community.
“It just looks like such a war zone. It’s not a normal fire,” Lowe said.
From what she’s seen, Lowe compared the scenes of Denare Beach to that of a movie set — with the windows of her son’s car melting because of how hot the fire was.
But Lowe is worried she’s not mentally prepared for what it will be like in real life and expects they’ll have “another good cry.”
More than “just stuff”
With emotions running high, Denare Beach residents continue to search through the ashes for what’s left of their former lives.
Many left behind homes full of valuables and sentimental items.
It’s partially due to the evacuation order, which required residents to leave because the road leading in and out of the community was at risk of becoming inaccessible.
“There was no fire threatening us,” Lowe said about the time of evacuation.
Werbicki only took the basics.
“I left with my animals, and that’s it. I had a little duffel bag. I could have taken more stuff, but I just thought, ‘What’s the point?’” Werbicki said.
The point became rapidly evident as Denare Beach became one of the hardest hit communities in this year’s wildfire season.
Werbicki said she’s tired of hearing from people who tell her, “At least you’re all safe,” and “It’s just stuff.”
She said they don’t understand how it feels to lose all your personal belongings.
“My wedding dress wasn’t just stuff. The outfits that I took my kids home from the hospital wasn’t just stuff. My grandma’s stained glass window wasn’t just stuff, or my wedding ring,” Werbicki said.
According to Werbicki, items like these are what “make you who you are.”
Thinking about her home, Werbicki remembered it as the place where her husband proposed, where they started their family and where she brought her children home from the hospital.
“I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s just unbelievable,” Werbicki said.
Werbicki collected hundreds of Precious Moments figurines for her daughter for special occasions like graduation or her baptism. While most of them shattered, Werbicki said she cried after finding the first one she ever bought her still intact, calling it “an almost unbelievable moment.” (Rhonda Werbicki/submitted)
“It’s still our home”
Even as Werbicki and Lowe deal with the loss of their homes, both women plan to rebuild in Denare Beach.
“It’s more than just a house — it’s home, it’s our community, it’s our friends. My kids still walked down that block to and from the bus stop to go to school,” Werbicki said.
While she used to joke that she’d move somewhere new once her kids were grown up, Werbicki has since changed her mind.
After learning their house had burned down, Werbicki’s husband asked where she’d want to live if she could choose anywhere in the world.
Werbicki replied with Denare Beach.
“It’s not our house anymore, but it’s still our home,” Werbicki said.
Lowe has already put down a deposit towards building a new home and hopes she’ll be moved in by next spring.
“I can’t say I’ll live there for another 31 years, but I will live there for quite a while,” Lowe said.
All that remains of Werbicki’s home in Denare Beach. (Rhonda Werbicki/submitted)
“They let us down”
Despite her optimism towards a future in Denare Beach, Lowe said the provincial government failed in its response to her community.
“They let us down. They knew that the Wolf Fire was there. They knew that Foran Mine had been evacuated for safety, and they still didn’t take care of that before it turned and came,” Lowe said.
While the provincial government has promised $500 to every wildfire evacuee, Lowe said that won’t even cover her gas to get back home.
She wants the Premier to take accountability for what happened and the mistakes made.
One of those being that Denare Beach was one of the communities under the responsibility of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) and not the Canadian Red Cross.
It was a decision that she said led to worse outcomes for community members.
“The people I know from Manitoba have gotten help from Red Cross. They’ve gotten checks, they’ve gotten clothing, they’ve gotten restaurants where they can go eat in,” Lowe said.
In comparison, Lowe said she’s yet to receive any financial aid from the SPSA.
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