This evacuee was 35 weeks pregnant when wildfire destroyed her home. Now she has a healthy newborn daughter
CBC
Brooke Kindel's recurring nightmare of fleeing her home in Denare Beach, Sask., as a wildfire closes in doesn't disrupt her sleep as regularly as it used to.
Newborn Callie helps keep her mind on the future.
Kindel was 35 weeks pregnant when her family had to leave Denare Beach, along with hundreds of others who were ordered to evacuate the northern village on May 28. Just days later, her house and almost everything her family owned burned down.
A month later, on June 28, Callie was born.
"I'm lucky … it's weird to say lucky," said Kindel during an interview at her temporary home, a rental house in Saskatoon.
"My parents' house [in Denare Beach] burned too. So they're here evacuated with us, so that's been really helpful. So many people lost everything. It's just so hard to even comprehend. And I've got such a good distraction with this beautiful baby."
Callie's older brothers — Jackson, 4, and toddler Logan — are still adjusting to their new home in an unfamiliar city. They miss their friends and the beach.
Kindel's husband Kyle initially stayed in Denare Beach to fight the fire, as did Kindel's dad. Her husband eventually joined the family in Saskatoon, but now he's back on the front line of wildfire season, this time in the Beauval area.
"We're a good team and thankfully Callie gives us decent sleep in the night so we're not up every two hours on the dot as we were with our other kids," Kindel said.
The wildfire destroyed more than 200 permanent residences in Denare Beach and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation's Denare Beach reserve, which is adjacent to the village.
In the aftermath, some residents are questioning the provincial government's response to the fire and support for evacuees as they recover and rebuild entire blocks of homes in the remote community.
Many are waiting on mandatory environmental assessments before rebuilding. Foundations need to be poured before the snow flies.
Kindel was raised in Denare Beach but lived elsewhere for a good chunk of her adult life. The family moved to Denare just over a year ago.
They intend to rebuild with plenty of fire protection, like a tin roof and ember catchers on vents.
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