'Let us mourn': Denare Beach residents ask public not to visit fire-ravaged village
CBC
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."
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.
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