REGINA -- With families spending more time at home due to COVID-19, demand for firewood in Saskatchewan has skyrocketed.

Rhonda Woelk and her husband own Countryside Firewood. They bring in birch logs from Manitoba, and usually sell about 100 cords of wood annually.

Last year, their sales nearly doubled.

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“Last year, we noticed already in the spring, we started to get calls from people we’d never seen before for customers,” said Woelk. “And then it just kept going throughout the whole summer. We did sell a lot more wood last year.”

The Woelks are currently sold out, and have a waiting list. The wood isn’t all going to heat homes and for cozy living room fires. Backyard firepits are more popular than ever, even in the winter months. “But this year we’ve noticed, a few extra have been asking for, because they want to do campfires outside, because they can’t have as many people over for inside the house,” Woelk said.

The Durston family in Regina gathers around their fireplace a few times a week. The kids pitch in helping to build and light the fire.

“We got the kids together, we had a fire,” father Shea Durston said. “We just read a book together, it’s been wonderful from a family standpoint to spend a little bit more time together. Kids are still talking about that night.”

The Durston’s three kids Caleb, Madison and Taylor all enjoy the activity that helps set the scene for some family-bonding time.

“We kind of get hot chocolate and get in the living room and get fire,” said Madison Durston.

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Shea bought a huge bag of firewood last fall, but that bag is almost empty. Finding more wood could be a challenge, as firewood sales are up from a year ago.

“We love building fires, we love the fellowship around it when we have people over. So something we definitely do in the backyard,” Shea said. The Durston family plans to continue their fireside tradition, an opportunity to come together, and bond as a family.

“It’s just something going on in the background, that creates a gathering point for our family,” he said.