‘It was awful’: Southern Sask. residents react to massive grass fire in Kannata Valley

Residents are still coming to terms with a massive grass fire that gutted three homes in Silton, Sask. this past Monday.

As the fire burned eight kilometers through the valley on May 7, many are still dealing with the aftermath.

Kirby and his partner Rozee Livingstone had gone out for groceries. When they returned just hours later, their home – and their lives – had been destroyed.

“We had a five-month-old Yorkie, her name was Lucy, and we had a 13-year-old kitty name Mitz; and they’re our babies,” Livingstone managed through tears. “For us, when we came home last night, I was just hoping by some miracle those little animals made it out. They didn’t.”

Though many of the houses in Kannata Valley are used as cottages, Kirby and Livingstone were full-time residents. They didn’t just lose their property, they lost their memories.

“It’s devastating, I can’t rewind and make my children little again. They’re all grown up, those things are gone and you can never get them back. My father is gone, little mementos from my dad, I can never get a handwritten note again from him,” Livingstone added.

Kannata Valley Village Councillor Terry Lang lives right beside the houses that burned down. There were 20 volunteer firefighters on site, and although they were able to save his home from the flames, it did not go unscathed.

A couple of windows on his house shattered from the power of the blaze and some siding on his garage melted.

“There’s a sense of guilt almost, why was mine saved and not the neighbours?” Lang said.

“It’s a bit of a grieving process and shock, that sets in.”

For Lang, fire in the area is always a risk but this one really hit close to home.

“I never had that experience before, we always fear wildfires out here because we have an environmental reserve right behind our place… It’s all natural prairie grass,” Lang said.

“We have fire bans when it’s appropriate, and ask people to do certain things to protect our property like keeping a green space around their house, storing up all wood, and that sort of thing. I didn’t know what to expect.”

Sherry Forsyth was working in her yard with her husband when they noticed the fire.

“We suddenly smelled smoke,” Forsyth said.

“I said that’s odd… we have a fire ban, so we hopped in the truck and we knew there was trouble… Sure enough, we learned the whole Highlands area and Rockridge was on fire. It was unbelievable – the smoke, the fire, flames.”

The fire was only a few yards away from her house burning in the bush.

“We had three hose outlets that we draw from the lake, so we hooked them all up we were able to keep the fire at bay, my kids came out and they were in the bushes with hoses.” Forsyth said.

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Along with Silton Valley Volunteer Fire Department, crews from Regina Beach, Lumsden and Craven also assisted in putting out flames.

Many residents volunteered to keep the flames away from houses and from spreading further. Don Peterson said when he saw the smoke, he grabbed his shovel and got to work.

“I was beating down the flames, it was surprising how much fire you can stop with just a shovel, and the fellow across the street was out with a garden hose,” Peterson said.

“It was awful… The flames were shooting way high and it was just awful to see those homes go.”

Lang said Kannata Village Council will likely use this as an opportunity to look at the community’s emergency preparedness plan.

“The fire commissioner for the province was out here last night and had a look around… We will go through a debriefing process to see what we could have done better,” Lang said.

“Traffic congestion was an issue, and part of it was we only have one street in this village… Lots of people came around with trucks and tanks (to help), but other people came to look, and that causes problems.”

Fire crews are still investigating what caused the fire.

CCTV camera’s captured footage of a train passing through the town, and the fire following shortly after.

That footage has been handed over to RCMP to use as potential evidence.

Canadian Pacific declined to comment.

With files from Colton Praill