Support is pouring in for a family that lost their home in a devastating house fire just outside of Prince Albert
Laurie and Lawrence Waditaka lost their house in a fire on May 6. Now, their daughter Samantha has started a GoFundMe campaign to help replace what they’ve lost. The campaign goal is $10,000.
“We were all in shock,” Samantha said when asked about the fire.
Samantha lives just down the road from her parents. When her sister texted her about the fire, she raced over to the house. Her father, sister, and nephew were able to escape unharmed, but the house burned down before they could save anything else.
“It was so fast,” Samantha said. “I’ve seen a house burn down before in our community, and I’ve never seen a house burn down as fast as my mom’s house. They had no time to grab anything.”
Laurie was busy doing her practicum at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital when the fire happened. As a result, she has nothing left but her work close. The same goes for Hunter, Samatha’s brother, who also lived at the house. He was away helping fight wildfires, and also has nothing left but his firefighting gear.
Laurie said the experience has been overwhelming.
“We all work very hard, and for it all to go up in flames, it hurts,” Laurie said. “There’s stuff in there that was irreplaceable. Of course, there’s things we can replace and get again, but we had a very beautiful home in there. We looked after it very well, so it was really hard to see that all go up in flames.”
Laurie was at the hospital when she got word of the fire. She raced home to Prince Albert to be with her family. She said it was an emotional time, but was grateful no one was injured.
“It’s only things,” she said. “My children and my grandchildren are all safe and their healthy, so that’s what I’m grateful for.”
Laurie’s daughter Kaylene suffered one of the biggest losses. Kaylene is a seamstress who uses lace, ribbon, and fabric to create ribbon skirts, earrings, and necklaces. Samantha said her sister has filled orders for customers as far away as Los Angeles, but has lost all her material, along with her work station.
Samantha said her family are all good people who stay in touch with their Dakota culture by appearing at ceremonies festivals, wakes, and feasts, so the loss of the cultural items really hurts.
“She had so much materials and she supported so many businesses—especially Indigenous businesses,” Samantha said. “She’s looking for donations so she can restart.”
Samantha said Prince Albert resident Sheryl Kimbley will be collecting and delivering extra needles, ribbon, material, and lace to the family.
So far, the GoFundM ecampaign has raised nearly $2,400. Laurie said it was humbling to see so many people come together in a in a very short amount of time to support her and her family.
“The support that we have received so far has been unbelievable,” she said. “It did something to my heart yesterday. I cried because so many people cared and I was so thankful and grateful for all of the support and the people who reached out and helped us.
“There’s things that we needed, and people brought them. We needed towels. We needed something to wear…. Everybody needed everything, especially my grandson…. We all needed everything, so it was nice to see so many people come together in a very short amount of time to support all of us like that. It just touched me and I just couldn’t believe how many people were there for us. It was very nice and heartwarming.
To donate to the GoFundMe campaign, visit gofundme.com/f/waditaka-family-house-fire
–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald
