Latest news with #DenareBeach
CBC
5 days ago
- Climate
- CBC
'There's a lot I wish I would have taken': Denare Beach residents in shock after wildfire
When Rebecca McCrimmon evacuated with her family from Denare Beach last week, it was out of concern that access to the northeast Saskatchewan community, not far from the Manitoba border, would be cut off by the Club fire burning to the north. She packed some clothes and mementoes, thinking she would be able to return home after the danger passed. But then on Monday, the Wolf fire suddenly moved in from the west. She watched via a video feed as the flames went down the street in front of her house. Then the feed went dark. McCrimmon thought about the things she hadn't packed. "There's a lot I wish I would have taken," she said in an interview on Wednesday, her voice trailing off. "Like my daughter's footprints from the hospital, her hospital hat and her first haircut, different things like that." McCrimmon, her husband and their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter are staying with family in Gimli, Man. McCrimmon said she's grateful for a family friend who is in the community and has been documenting the states of the properties to share with the residents, as it was "very hard" when they didn't know if their home had been lost. 'I feel so lost': Denare Beach resident sad and angry after losing home to wildfire 42 minutes ago Duration 0:46 The Wolf fire destroyed a large swath of Denare Beach, near the Manitoba border, on Monday. Gracie Dareichuk said she's had a "whirlwind of emotions" after seeing the destruction. Gracie Dareichuk is also dealing with the news that her home burned to the ground. Like McCrimmon, she wasn't too worried until the winds changed on Monday and the Wolf fire made its run toward the community. She watched the photos and videos posted from neighbours' cameras with growing alarm — and with an enormous feeling of helplessness. "We could just see the fire blazing up. It was tragic, like a terrible sight to see," Dareichuk said in an interview. "It felt almost like torture, like you were just sitting there, forced to watch your house burn." The 21-year-old nursing student has been staying with relatives in eastern Saskatchewan as well as in a camper. While she's grateful to have family support, Dareichuk doesn't want to burden them by staying for weeks on end. "I feel so lost," she said. "I keep saying, I just want to go back home, but I know I can't go back home because I don't have a home now." The Denare Beach reserve, located just south of the resort village, was also hit by the fire. Easter Dubinak, who lives on the reserve, says all but 10 homes there were lost. "My parents' home burned down … and all of my mother's possessions were in our home," Dubinak said. "We lost her 15 years ago to breast cancer and it feels like I've lost her all over again. I'm so devastated." Dubinak said the reserve being small makes it an especially tight-knit community. "We always came together to help one another," she said. "When a member passed we all mourned for that member like they were family, that's how close we were." Residents of Denare Beach are among the estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people people displaced from 34 communities in Saskatchewan due to the wildfires, according to Wednesday's briefing from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. The estimated number of "values" lost — including homes, cabins, infrastructure and vehicles — is more than 400, said SPSA vice-president of operations Steve Roberts. There were 24 active fires in the province as of Wednesday afternoon, with only five of them classified as contained. La Ronge is one of the communities with displaced residents nervously waiting for news about any losses, after the Pisew fire moved in from the north. Two businesses, Robertson Trading and Rona, burned in the town on Tuesday evening and all but the most essential personnel have been told to leave. Denare Beach so far has been the "largest single area of impact" in terms of values lost, Roberts said. WATCH | Evacuees concerned as wildfire conditions in northern Sask. worsen: Evacuees concerned as wildfire conditions in northern Sask. worsen 10 hours ago Duration 2:01 Lack of rain is offering no help to northern Saskatchewan as crews struggle to contain more than 20 active wildfires. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says more than 400 homes and other structures have been destroyed so far. Interactive Sask. active fire map. Fire danger map. Fire bans. Environment and Climate Change Canada weather alerts. Sask. Highway Hotline. Smoke forecast. Air quality. Tracking wildfires across Canada.
CTV News
6 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Saskatchewan receives out-of-province help during extreme wildfire season
WATCH: It's all hands on deck as the Saskatchewan provincial fire crews fight to limit the damage of ongoing wildfires. WATCH: It's all hands on deck as the Saskatchewan provincial fire crews fight to limit the damage of ongoing wildfires. It's all hands-on-deck as crews try to limit the damage from Saskatchewan's extreme wildfires. Resources are being brought in from around the province and across the country to help with the fight. The Warman fire department is one of many that have sent additional help to the fire crews up north, with crews currently working near Weyakwin and Denare Beach. Chief Russ Austin with Warman Fire Rescue says they are able to help other communities while still taking care of their own. 'With conditions the way they are, we just can't, we can't move all our pieces off the chessboard. Right now, we keep about 25 firefighters in Warman, that are volunteers that can come and respond when needed.' The Saskatchewan Fire Chiefs Association partnered with the Toronto-based Global Medic charity to bring in fire skids, designed to turn regular pick-up trucks into firetrucks. The donated skids arrived this week from Edmonton and are being distributed out of Warman. 'They came in at 230, and by 5:00 they were already gone,' said Austin. 'By 7 p.m., at least four of those skids were fighting fire. It's amazing efficiency.' While the skids can help fight smaller, less extreme fires, the high intensity of some of the wildfires means they can only be fought by highly trained crews. 'We've had fires where we've evacuated our entire firefighting staff at short notice,' said Steve Roberts from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA). 'From Lower Fishing Lakes, we had to evacuate over 200 people. Those are fires that are not stable enough to use resources that are not familiar with active wildfires. So, it is one reason we currently are not using the military.' The province has received additional crews and equipment from B.C., the Northwest Territories, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, Alberta, Arizona, Alaska, and Oregon. The SPSA estimates that up to 600,000 hectares of land have burned so far this year.
CTV News
6 days ago
- General
- CTV News
It's just devastating': Wildfire evacuees using security cameras to watch homes as flames tear through
Doorbell cameras are giving wildfire evacuees a front row seat to the real time destruction in their community. Danton Unger reports. Doorbell and security cameras are giving wildfire evacuees a chilling front-row seat to real-time chaos being caused by wildfires. For some, the videos provide a glimmer of hope their homes are still standing, while for others it confirms their worst fears. Cyndi Pedwell said she watched her doorbell camera Monday as flames ripped through her home in Denare Beach, Sask. 'We actually watched it happen until the internet was eaten up,' she said. 'It's just devastating. It just happened so fast and I think everything was just incinerated in no time.' Jennifer Hysert dealt with a similar situation. Her neighbour in Denare Beach sent her a video of her home reduced to ash. 'I've been calling this fire the demon. And when this demon came through, it had so much power, it was unstoppable,' said Hysert. 'I think the most sickening feeling is not knowing. So whenever I had a lot of friends on the ground, and whenever I got any information, I was trying to share it.' She isn't alone. For the hundreds of residents evacuated from the Flin Flon area, these cameras are providing them some of the most up-to-date information. 'Peace of mind is probably the thing we seek most and the thing we have least and we have no way of determining whether our property is there or not there,' said Valerie Gundersen. She has been using social media to share footage from the cameras at her home in Creighton, Sask., letting her neighbours know that for now, their block still stands. 'It's one thing that I know I could trust,' she said. 'On my little piece of earth so far, we're still there.' For Pedwell, this isn't closure, but she said these videos at least mean she doesn't have to wonder. 'It's hard to see, but I think it's just, I don't know, it's part of the process. Maybe it will help when we finally get to go back,' said Pedwell.
CBC
6 days ago
- Climate
- CBC
Wildfires cause several CBC Manitoba transmission towers to lose power
Due to the ongoing wildfires, transmitters in Denare Beach, Island Falls, Pelican Narrows, and Pukatawagan have lost power. Lynn Lake is still on, and Flin Flon came back over the weekend. How to listen to CBC Radio One during service interruptions: CBC/Radio-Canada is committed to supporting our listeners through these issues to ensure they can continue to access important local and national CBC radio content.
CBC
03-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Last remaining firefighters, emergency staff evacuated as Denare Beach 'devastated' by wildfire
Social Sharing Firefighters and all essential staff were evacuated from the resort village of Denare Beach, Sask., as wildfire tore through and destroyed all the buildings on one of the main streets. The few remaining volunteer firefighters and essential workers were told late Monday afternoon to leave the village, located on the shores of Amisk Lake in northern Saskatchewan, after intense wind conditions fuelled the Wolf Fire threatening the town and anyone left in it. Poor internet connection? CBC Lite is our low-bandwidth website. On Tuesday morning, the village confirmed that Ninth Avenue South, a main street in Denare Beach, was "devastated by fire." Cell and internet service is offline and phone lines are also down, according to a post on the village's Facebook page. The latest report from the village, which is home to about 699 people according to the latest Census in 2021, said the fire hall, administration building and Denareplex were still standing. "We understand not receiving further information is frustrating, but please understand we feel as shocked, helpless as you all right now and are trying to navigate the situation as best we can remotely," the Facebook post said. The same post went on to confirm that members of the village's fire department had escaped and were in Creighton about 19 kilometres away. As of Tuesday morning, there were 20 active wildfires in the province, nine of which were not contained, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. About 8,000 people had been evacuated from northern Saskatchewan due to wildfires as of Monday. Saskatchewan communities now under evacuation order or pre-evacuation alert: Air Ronge. Brabant Lake. Candle Lake resort village (voluntary). Clam Crossing. Creighton. Denare Beach. East Trout Lake. Eagle Point. English Bay. Foran Mine - McIlveena Bay. Hall Lake. Jan Lake. La Ronge. Lac La Ronge Indian Reservation. Lamp Lake. Little Bear Lake. Lower Fishing Lake. Molanosa. Napatak. Narrow Hills Provincial Park. Nemeiben Subdivision. Pelican Narrows. Piprell Lake. Potato Lake. Rabbit Creek. Resort Subdivision of Ramsey Bay. Sikachu. Sturgeon Landing. Sucker River. Timber Bay. Wadin Bay. Weyakwin. Whiteswan/Whelan Bay. Up-to-date info on active fires, smoke and related topics is available at these sources: Interactive Sask. active fire map. Fire danger map. Fire bans. Environment and Climate Change Canada weather alerts. Sask. Highway Hotline. Smoke forecast. Air quality. Tracking wildfires across Canada.
