‘We have to move because it’s not safe anymore’

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This article was published 07/08/2023 (795 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Leaf Rapids woman is calling on the province to declare a state of emergency in her community after her home was invaded and set on fire last week.

On Wednesday, Aug. 2 around 5:30 a.m., Adrienne Cook was awoken by the sound of someone banging on her door. When she didn’t answer, they kept banging. Suddenly, she heard someone barge through the front door.

“I heard my dogs barking and then one of them yelped,” Cook said. “I ran to my son’s room, Jacob, and I said, ‘I think somebody’s in here’.”

In the hallway, her other son, Ryan, 18, said he heard intruders smashing windows throughout the house. Scared to go outside, Cook and her children made a split-second decision to go to the basement, where she told her daughter Naomi, 11, to hide under the table.

After Ryan told the intruders to go away, they threatened to light the house on fire and wouldn’t allow them back upstairs. When Cook heard the intruder shut the kitchen door, she and her children ran out the side door.

She could already smell the smoke.

The family took refuge in their neighbour’s house where they called 911. Fearing the intruders would see them, Cook and her children hid in the back bedroom. She looked out the window to see her house completely engulfed in flames.

First responders arrived shortly after.

A 31-year-old man was arrested and charged with arson, breaking and entering, and possession of a weapon for dangerous purposes after he was located near the fire last Wednesday. In an email sent to the Free Press on Monday, the RCMP confirmed that the case was still under investigation.

Late Monday afternoon, Cook was staying with family in Leaf Rapids. Though she lost nearly everything to the fire, including her pet chihuahua, she feels lucky that her family safely escaped. To help ease the financial burden of the fire, she set up a GoFundMe.

“I have a lot of family support here. I have friends who are being very helpful,” Cook said. “But we have to move because it’s not safe anymore.”

After living in Leaf Rapids for her entire life, she feels it’s necessary to leave. She said break-ins and violent crime have become commonplace in the town of just 351 residents per the 2021 Census.

In late June, the community was evacuated due to a wildfire. When residents returned to their homes in early July, many had been ransacked by break-ins while they were away. Cook said this prompted many residents, including her sister and brother-in-law, to leave or plan to move out of the community.

“In the last maybe three months, it’s picked up a lot,” Cook said. “The community is coming together to put something out and get our town heard and helped.”

Cook said that while it will be tough for her family to quit their jobs and leave their longtime home, she’s moving for the safety of her children. While she hasn’t determined where they’ll settle yet, she looking at homes south of Leaf Rapids in Winnipeg or Winkler.

In the meantime, she wants the Manitoba government to take action and equip the community with better supports by declaring a state of emergency.

“Leaf Rapids was a nice town at one point. This is still our home, but they’re taking over,” Cook said. “If we have to leave, we have to leave.”

cierra.bettens@freepress.mb.ca