Suzanne Holowach and Fred A. Reekie served as editors of the book. (Image Credit: Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Dangerous conditions

Book recounts efforts by Wadin Bay residents to save community from wildfire

Mar 6, 2026 | 4:00 PM

The heroic efforts by residents of Wadin Bay to save their community from a fast-moving wildfire last June is now memorialized in writing.  

A book launch for Not on our Watch!: A Tribute to the 2025 Wadin Bay Volunteer Firefighters by Suzanne Holowach and Fred A. Reekie was held Thursday at La Ronge’s Alex Robertson Public Library. Dozens of people attended the event, which included an introduction of the book and testimonials from residents who fought the fire.  

“I am hoping the government officials will read it, and I’m hoping they will feel embarrassed that they weren’t there supporting and they haven’t been following through and supporting. I am hoping they will recognize the community wants to co-operate with them and we need their support,” Reekie explained. 

“I am hoping other communities will pick up that book and read it and say ‘you know what? It is possible for a little community to actually prepare and make a difference.’” 

Reekie noted the book will also remind Wadin Bay firefighters their efforts were appreciated and serve as a record of the community and the potential destruction residents were faced with during the Pisew wildfire event. That day and into the night community members came together to save their community and not a single cabin was lost.  

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The book was completed by Holowach and Reekie in about a five-month span. They collected images, conducted interviews and took into account input from community members.  

“While the fire was going on, I just had a need to do something about it and make some kind of history in word. I didn’t want it to just be a website or anything like that. I talked to Fred because I knew he had written a couple of books, and he was more than willing to help. Between the two of us, we worked hard at this,” Holowach said. 

“I didn’t understand what I was getting into when I said I wanted to do something like this. It kind of got a life of its own and we kind of made it bigger than what my first vision was.” 

Copies of the book can be purchased by reaching out to the Wadin Bay Community Association, or at the La Ronge General Store and Saskatoon’s Turning the Tide bookstore.

derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com