‘We felt powerless’: Piney residents reflect on aftermaths of wildfire

Huguette and Rita Gérardy watched their family home burn down during the wildfire at St Labre on May 13.

“It’ll never be the same,” said Huguette. “The house contained mom and dad’s spirit.”

Jean Gérardy, Huguette and Rita’s father, built the family home by hand in 1947. The property has been with the family for 78 years.

“The flames were as high as the trees,” said Huguette. “We felt powerless.”

Huguette said the night before the house burned, ashes were falling like rain.

The sisters watched from a distance as the sky filled with smoke when it engulfed the house.

“We knew it was the house,” said Huguette. “It didn’t seem real.”

The house had their family photos, souvenirs, cassettes, and their parents’ belongings.

“We lost a lot of that information. We kept it all there…We always felt like mom and dad were there,” said Rita. “It’s our identity.”

Jean died in November 2009, and Georgette Gerardy, their mother, died in 2011.

“Every time we left the house we always said, ‘Bye mom, bye dad.’ It’s like losing a third parent,” said Huguette.

Huguette said it’s their family’s tradition to spend Christmas Eve at the family home where they would have a feast, open gifts, and go to bed way past midnight.

“It was our meeting place,” said Rita. “It kept the family together.”

Residents of Woodridge have experienced three wildfires in the last two decades, one in 2008, 2011, and now 2025.

Huguette said they plan to rebuild the family home and replant trees, but, “It won’t be the same.”

The Sandilands Provincial Forest fire near Woodridge in 2008 was human caused, according to the government of Manitoba’s fire update report at the time.

The province said the RM of Piney evacuated 300 to 400 people in the same area again in 2011.

RM of Piney Reeve Wayne Anderson told The Carillon in a May interview, that dry conditions led to the most recent forest fire, which started along the train tracks on May 10.

Barry Fontaine, a Woodridge resident, was the first to speak at the meeting.

“I got something to say. What was the policing of this town while we were evacuated? Terrible,” said Fontaine, 81. “I lived here all my life. I got my home here and I’m concerned.”

“Our town was wide open to everybody,” he said.

Fontaine also raised concerns about emergency communication, and accessibility for those who might not have internet access.

“Not everybody’s got a computer, or internet that they can get a message over. Not everybody’s got it. Most of the people in this community are seniors,” said Fontaine.

Another concern raised were firefighters’ ability to respond to fires on Crown land.

“Our firefighters can only fight on private property, so we got them to put sprinklers around the community,” said Coun. Ken Prociw.

“Guess what. We all live against Crown land. What kind of stupid answer is that? Just leave it burning through Crown land, and when it hits your field, well good luck buddy,” said Noel Gerardy, Huguette and Rita’s cousin who lives in the RM of Piney.

“That’s the way it is. You’re right,” said Anderson in response.

The crowd broke out in disbelief and started chatting amongst themselves right after Anderson’s response.

“The municipality can only look after fire when it leaves the Crown land,” said Anderson.

Crown land refers to land owned by the government.

Coun. Mark Bernard also encouraged residents to advocate for change.

“It’s crazy when we cannot go to Crown land because of a provincial policy. It’s frustrating for us. It’s frustrating for our fire department…That’s why we want to hear from you so we can now be your voice, and if we have to go and stand out and go out and then sit on the steps of parliament, then maybe that’s what we have to do,” said Bernard to the audience.

“We have a provincial idiotic law that doesn’t make sense,” said Bernard. “We have an MLA here (Konrad Narth), but you have a voice, so write letters to the minister, write letters to the federal minister. Take matters with your own hands. That’s a suggestion for you.”

JC Normandeau, fire chief of the RM of Labroquerie, said their department has responded to Crown land fires in the past close to Reynolds, but there are “liabilities that come to play.”

If a fire starts on Crown land and spreads to other lands within the municipality, half of the cost of extinguishing the fire goes to the government, and if a fire is contained entirely in Crown land, the total cost goes to the government fully, according to The Fires Prevention Act.

There are no restrictions preventing a fire department from responding to a fire on Crown land, but, firefighting response depends on the jurisdiction and whatever agreements are in place, according to a provincial spokesperson on June 10 and 16.

“Firefighters would contact Manitoba Conservation. Then they would dispatch a tac crew that would come out to combat the fire, and if they would need assistance from the municipal fire department but they rarely do—unless a state of emergency is declared—just because of concerns on liability responsibility,” said Narth.

Firefighters have to go through Manitoba Conservation to get clearance to fight a fire.

“The local fire department feels somewhat helpless in their ability to protect the homes and municipal infrastructure because of this regulatory constraint,” said MLA for La Vérendrye Konrad Narth. “Fire crews were watching fires come up to the town, but they didn’t have jurisdiction to go out into the Crown lands, into the bush and put out that fire.”

Narth said this is a jurisdictional conflict which is a concern as some communities are close or bordering crown lands.

“It potentially is causing catastrophe or can create catastrophe in communities like Woodridge, Sandilands, St Labre that are surrounded and there’s many others in the province that are surrounded by Crown lands,” said Narth. “In a town like Woodridge, if it does go into town the provincial tac crew, office of the fire commissioner, fire crews, they stop at the edge of crown land and then it’s the municipality’s responsibility.”

A tac crew refers to a team of wildland firefighters transported on helicopters.

“I’m advocating for improvements to the fire shortfalls that have happened here in the RM of Piney,” said Narth to the residents. “The province will be supporting in the areas that are devastated. The cost is significant though to all taxpayers in the province. These fires quickly add up.”

Over 20 people spoke up during the town meeting with many follow up comments and questions.

Reeve Wayne Anderson, Coun. Ken Prociw, and Fire Chief Joel Grenier did not respond to multiple requests for comment over email and phone.

Wildfires have consumed nearly 9,000 hectares in the RM of Piney.