There are signs of regrowth and rebuilding on Wendigo Road in Lac du Bonnet, Man., one year after a devastating wildfire tore through the area.
Many cottages on Wendigo Road have been rebuilt or are in the process of being rebuilt.
Sylvio Allard’s family has had a cottage in the area for 17 years. Their cottage was lost in the wildfire last May.
“It was pretty shocking because we had just finished renovating our cabin,” Allard told Global News.
“It was brand new from top to bottom and we had just started enjoying it and then the next thing you know, it’s gone.”
Allard has already rebuilt the boathouse and intends on starting to rebuild the cabin this summer.
“It’s exciting. It’s nice to see that everybody is starting to build back in the area,” he said.
The wildfire on May 13, 2025, moved rapidly and left behind a swath of destruction.
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“The fire was moving close to two km/h and the fire conditions were extreme. The wind was blowing at 50 to 60 km/h,” Lac du Bonnet fire chief Earl Simmons said.
“Extreme winds, low humidity, high temps in the 30s… Perfect recipe for disaster.”
Dozens of homes and cottages were destroyed and it also brought unthinkable tragedy. Couple Rich and Sue Nowell lost their lives in the wildfire, unable to escape the flames.
Flags were lowered to half-mast in the community on Wednesday in their honour.
“We haven’t forgotten,” Rural Municipality of Lac du Bonnet reeve Loren Schinkel told Global News.
“Those material items can be rebuilt, but you can’t bring back Richard and Sue Nowell. So it’s important that they be remembered.”
The bridge on Provincial Road 313 has also been renamed the Susan and Richard Nowell Memorial Bridge in honour of the couple.
The RM of Lac du Bonnet has also hired a consulting firm to conduct a wildland fire study and risk assessment of the area. Simmons says it will look at ways to reduce the fire risk through management of deadfall and vegetation, building codes, clearing areas around structures, and public education. A final report is expected in the fall.
“I think it’s a wake-up call for everybody to start thinking not so much about the fires, but what we can do beforehand to prevent that from happening in the first place,” Simmons said.
“We were prepared, we had a great program, we had everybody trained,” Shinkell said. “But after something like this, there’s lessons to be learned.”
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