A three-bedroom home loaded onto a semi headed north from Prince Albert, Sask., to the fire-ravaged community on Wednesday. A trip that usually takes four hours was expected to take about seven.
“Now that these houses are finally being delivered, it’s exciting for everybody,” said Brett Pisio, director of home and building solutions for Homes by Lake Country Co-op.
PBCN lost the majority of its 30 homes in the wildfire back in June 2025. The larger community of Denare Beach lost more than 200 buildings.
“They’ve been out of a house for a long time,” said PBCN Chief Peter Beatty, adding that most of the residents have been living outside of the community since the fire.
“We’re hoping to get them in as soon as possible.”
The Chief says there are challenges with rebuilding a community in the middle of a Saskatchewan winter. Adverse weather conditions have caused delays in delivery and completing the foundations, he said.
Since fall, Lake Country Co-op has been building new houses for PBCN. Eighteen out of the 24 homes are complete and ready to move, weather permitting.
They plan to deliver two houses every week to get families into homes by the summer.
“A lot of people have shown up here to tour their house,” Pisio said. “To see that pride or that joy to see their future house, it means a lot to our team.”
As Pisio and his team watch the houses depart, Denare Beach resident Kari Lentowicz will be keen to see their arrival.
She lost her home on the municipal side of Denare Beach. She’s still waiting on insurance before she can rebuild.
But she says seeing neighbours move back home gives her hope for the future.
“There’s such a long way to go still and I think we know that. But every house is one step further, one step closer to our goal,” Lentowicz said.
Once the homes get to Denare Beach, appliances will have to be installed and electrical and plumbing hooked up before families can move in.
“There are First Nations that have experienced displacement for eight years after a disaster. To see this happen within a year is absolutely amazing,” Lentowicz said.
Since the fire, a handful of new homes have been built in the municipality of Denare Beach. Lentowicz says she likely won’t be able to rebuild until next year.
