‘It was miraculous’: Manitobans who lost everything in wildfires find diamond ring during cleanup

CTV’s Joseph Bernacki was in Lac du Bonnet to see firsthand the cleanup underway on Wendigo Road following the wildfire.

Erin Sliva-Banville and her husband lost nearly everything in the devastating May wildfires that swept through areas northeast of Lac du Bonnet, Man.

When a volunteer cleanup crew found a diamond ring in the rubble of their home on Wendigo Road, she said it was a miracle.

“We thought it would have melted,” Sliva-Banville said.

“I did lose my wedding rings, but they found that ring. That was really significant.”

The diamond ring was a gift from Mexico from her best friend. It would not have been found had Christian Aid Ministries Canada not shown up to help her and her neighbours.

The national non-profit organization has four rapid response teams across the country pressed into service where they are needed.

“You can see what they did,” Sliva-Banville said as she looked at her cleared property.

“It’s a tremendous saviour to us. It was miraculous.”

One month ago, her yard was full of scrap metal, debris, fallen trees and other materials left behind from the blaze. Now there’s hope for her to rebuild.

“It’s a very small thing we could do to, to help them on to the next step and give some hope and encouragement in their life,” said Paul Eberly, field coordinator for Christian Aid Ministries Canada’s rapid response team based out of Rainy River, Ont.

Eberly saw the destruction the fires left behind and quickly reached out to Brad Wood who owns property in the community.

Wood said the rapid response team of over a dozen members cleared away hundreds of pounds of scrap over three weeks of work.

“It’s been an insurmountable task,” Wood said, whose yard was full of debris one month ago.

“The gratitude by the community is just unbelievable for what they’ve done.”

‘We just ask for some patience’

In the wake of the devastating wildfires, Wood said they expected more help from the RM of Lac du Bonnet. On top of losing everything, residents felt neglected before the ministry stepped in.

“I felt we were left out by this, and we were just very fortunate for the ministry’s help,” Wood said.

RM of Lac du Bonnet Reeve Loren Schinkel said they have applied for money for recovery and hired a contractor to remove hundreds of burnt trees, but the cleanup will take time.

“There’s all these moving parts here, and we just ask for some patience too from the residents,” Schinkel said.

Schinkel said insurance companies advised the RM to take a step back from immediate remediation, based on secondary health risks presented from carcinogens on site. It’s a job that requires special care.

“This was purely an environmental issue, where there was information received from the insurance companies who have specialists that need to deal with this type of a remediation,” Schinkel said.

“That’s where the issue arose. It wasn’t because the municipality wasn’t in a position to assist. We were advised ‘You need to hold back.’”

Sliva-Banville was not the only resident grateful for the ministry’s work.

Lavina Harding was overwhelmed with emotion when they were able to recover a majority of her family’s coin collection.

“I must have had at least a thousand coins,” Harding said.

“They found at least, I would say, two-thirds of them in a bowl, but they were so damaged. At least I have them as memories. I’ll be able to give those down to my children.”

It’s a small token, as she lost four generations of history from her house that burnt to the ground.

As she looks down at the ‘Wendigo Road Strong,’ signs displayed in her neighbourhood, Sliva-Banville said the cleanup efforts have given an opportunity for the community to come together again.

“The neighbours have really rallied, and we’ve all kind of come together and it will be a new beginning for everybody,” Sliva-Banville said.