Leaf Rapids residents fear they’ll have to sleep in tents as evacuation order lifted

Leaf Rapids evacuees set to return to their community after more than two months are concerned about the stinky, rotten state of the homes that await them.

The town lifted its evacuation order Monday morning after ordering its 350 residents out on July 8 owing to wildfires. Buses were scheduled to leave Winnipeg Monday night to make the roughly 13-hour, 950-kilometre journey to Leaf Rapids.

Beverly Baker plans to sleep in a tent outside when she returns.

“I’m not staying in (my home),” she said. “All the toxic stuff we’ll be breathing in from the rotten stuff … I can’t imagine the mess that we’ll be going home to.”

Power was cut off from Leaf Rapids on Aug. 1 and restored a little more than a month later, but the extended outage left fridges and freezers full of rotten food.

Originally, the town announced the evacuation order would be rescinded on Sept. 12 but pushed that back citing the “extended evacuation and power outage.”

The town asked residents to fill out forms if they wished to have their refrigerators removed or disposed, but later said property owners were responsible for any appliance repairs or replacements.

Ervin Bighetty, the manager of the local Co-op, said he was asked by town administration to procure fridges for returning evacuees, but, after securing the appliances, was told the province wouldn’t be moving ahead with the plan.

“It’s gonna be bad,” he said. “You’re gonna have a lot of families staying in tents because they won’t be able to stay in their homes.”

Veronica Moose, who has stayed in Winnipeg since the July evacuation, said residents should be compensated for the food and furniture that will need to be thrown away.

“Doesn’t matter how tight you lock your doors and windows, that smoke smell lingers and it stays on stuff,” she said. “And all the food smell is toxic.”

A provincial spokesman refused to comment on compensation for evacuees, saying it was too early to say what would be covered under the province’s disaster financial assistance program.

The spokesman said the province is “aware of the challenges that residents are coming back to.”

Town officials declined to comment.

Baker said she plans to throw out almost everything in her home owing to the spoiled food and smoke stains. She accused the province of mishandling the evacuation and said the return was being rushed.

The town’s council was dissolved in 2019 after multiple resignations and allegations of mismanagement. The province appointed an administrator to deal with day-to-day operations.

“We feel forgotten about,” Baker said. “If we had a mayor and council, I’m pretty sure there would have been a good setup with deciding on how we get treated.”

Baker and many Leaf Rapids residents are originally from Granville Lake. They were forced out of that community, some 50 kilometers west of Leaf Rapids, when a septic system failed and human waste flooded the streets in 2003.

Baker said she would go back in a heartbeat, if she could.

“That’s where our hearts are,” she said.

Rob Baker, Beverly Baker’s son and a former Leaf Rapids resident, has been trying to find tents and beds for evacuees. He said many will have no place to stay when they get home Tuesday morning.

He also called on the province to send health inspectors to the community to condemn the homes with rotten food.

“It’s a biohazard,” he said.

Leaf Rapids administration said it will have a reception area for returning residents that will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Thursday. Cleaning kits, as well as public health staff and representatives from the Northern Regional Health Authority will be available on-site.

Most services in town will be operational, including health services, grocery stores, RCMP and town operations. The school is expected to reopen the week of Sept. 29.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca