‘Home doesn’t look like home anymore’: Northern Man. grocer suffers major losses due to wildfires

A co-op in Leaf Rapids, Man., is struggling after wildfires wiped out much of its inventory. (CTV News)

It’s been a very frustrating summer for Leaf Rapids resident Ervin Bighetty.

He’s the general manager of the co-op in the northern Manitoba town, approximately 750 kilometres away from Winnipeg.

When he was forced to leave the community on July 11, he knew all the product in his store would not make it.

“We had no power for a month,” he said during a video call from Leaf Rapids on Tuesday morning. “We had to throw away all of our stuff. All of the refrigerators and freezers in the back of our store are empty.”

Bighetty says the challenge he is facing right now is trying not to lose the limited product they have in stock.

The town’s nearly 300 residents are not allowed to return yet. Only essential workers and staff like Bighetty are only allowed back in town, in preparation of a possible return soon.

Millions in product may have been lost

Bighetty is now forced to pick up the pieces and try to find a way out of this. He said he needs residents to return as soon as possible, so sales can go back to what they once were.

“We don’t want to lose more product,” he said. “We don’t want to keep throwing things away. We want people to come home, buy our groceries, buy our meats, buy our produce.”

“There is still stuff we are writing off today because nobody is buying anything, so everything is expiring,” he said. “We just go to shelves, find stuff, see that it’s expired and write it off.”

And it’s not just his store in town that took a major hit.

‘Home doesn’t look like home anymore’

When Bighetty returned Aug. 23, he was shocked as to what state the town looked like, no longer a community filled with forest around it.

“When they made the fire break, they cut all the trees down and a lot of things are burnt around the community,” he said. “It’s just sad to see the way it looks now.

“A lot of people are going to be a little heartbroken because it’s going to look like a desolate land everywhere,” he added. “It feels weird to be back home.”

Some vacant structures, one home, and a number of vehicles were lost in the wildfires that surrounded the community. Several hydro poles were also destroyed, which led to the loss of power.

Last week, residents were told they would be able to return home to Leaf Rapids, only to learn 24 hours later that a return would be halted, as preparations for their return take longer than expected.

“Residents of Leaf Rapids and the town’s administrator have expressed that they face significant challenges to return to the community safely, due to the extended evacuation and power outage,” the town said last week.

“We understand that residents are eager to get home, and that this delay is not news that many were hoping for. However, this additional time will allow Manitoba to provide more support for returning residents and to meet the community’s needs.”

The last social media post from the town said an update to re-entry plans could come in the next few days.

‘We missed our summer’

Unlike Ervin, Rose Bighetty has been stranded in Winnipeg since July 8. She has stayed in three separate hotels since being forced to leave home and has been anxiously awaiting her return to the community.

“I miss by baking, my cooking, my cleaning. I miss getting up in my own home,” she said. “I was really looking forward to going home last week.”

The earliest Bighetty was told she could go home is the beginning of October, but she says she won’t believe it until she’s on the plane to Leaf Rapids.

She says it’s been a very difficult few months and hopes to never have to go through a time like this again.

“We missed our summer; we missed all the things we like to do in Leaf Rapids, and we couldn’t do any of that here,” she said.