Many evacuees are returning home after a mass evacuation in northern Saskatchewan, however, some have decided to stay in Prince Albert start over.
Kachine Henderson was fighting fires on the front lines when she got the text message: her home on Montreal Lake First Nation had burned down.
“All I worried about was hockey equipment, my grad dress, my late best friend’s grad dress, the photos that I had I was going to go through. It all burnt,” said Henderson.
About 100 homes and cabins were burned down in the wildfires that devastated Saskatchewan’s northern forests.
It is not the financial loss that is affecting families. It is the sentimental loss.
“Pretty distraught, not feeling too good about it. But, don’t want to think about it either, it’s kind of hard,” said Jordan Charles, who lost his Montreal Lake home in the blaze.
Some people who have lost their homes have returned to their communities where they have found temporary housing. Others, like Henderson are starting over in Prince Albert.
Since the wildfires started, the YWCA has seen an increase in the number of northern residents considering moving to the city.
“Prince Albert has some great supports available. It’s got great social support, service available. Sometimes people come down, they get access to those supports and they get help and they move forward and that’s a good reason to stay around,” said Ryan Mitchell, Regional Newcomer Centre, YWCA.
Henderson is planning on moving into an apartment in Prince Albert at the beginning of August with her one-year-old baby. She is also hoping to return to school in the fall.
“The opportunity and start fresh, a new baby, a new life, too. See where we can lift off from here,” she said.
With files from CTV’s Jules Knox
