'There's a lot I wish I would have taken': Denare Beach residents in
shock after wildfire
Hannah Spray
| CBC News | Posted: June 5, 2025 10:00 AM | Last Updated: June
5
Parts of northern Sask. village destroyed by fire that moved in
faster than expected
Image | McCrimmon denare beach
Caption: Rebecca McCrimmon's home in Denare Beach was lost when
the Wolf fire roared through part of the community. (Mark
Pretzer)
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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.
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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.
WATCH | Sask. wildfire evacuee watched home burn in real time
on security cameras:
Media Video | CBC News : Sask. wildfire evacuee watched home
burn in real time on security cameras
Caption: Cyndi Pedwell, who evacuated Denare Beach, Sask., and
lost her home to the flames, says the wildfire devastated the
bottom half of her community. Pedwell says that officials
didn’t act fast enough, adding ‘I feel like we were neglected.’
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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."
Image | Denare Beach wildfire damage 2025
Caption: About half of Denare Beach has been destroyed by
wildfire. (Mark Pretzer)
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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."
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The Denare Beach reserve, located just south of the village,
was also hit by the fire.
Image | Denare Beach reserve
Caption: A view of the Denare Beach reserve, located just south
of the resort village, from before the fire. Easter Dubinak
says only 10 homes are still standing in the aftermath.
(Submitted by Easter Dubinak)
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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."
Image | Denare Beach reserve
Caption: People hose down homes on the Denare Beach reserve,
just south of the resort village of Denare Beach, in hopes of
saving them from encroaching wildfires. (Submitted by Easter
Dubinak)
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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.
Embed | Sask
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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.
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.
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