'A big hole on Main Street': Beloved hotel, restaurant in Radville, Sask., burns to ground
CBC
A beloved heritage building in Radville, located about 130 kilometres south of Regina, burned to the ground Monday morning.
The building consisted of two detached structures — the Long Creek Saloon and adjoining hotel, as well as the neighbouring Chinese food establishment Radville Family Restaurant.
The Radville-Laurier Fire Department said it responded to a large fire at the buildings just after 12:20 a.m. Monday. It said the crew immediately knew the structures could not be saved.
Their focus turned to containing the fire and protecting the surrounding commercial buildings.
Darryl Ferguson, deputy fire chief, said a man lived in the upstairs portion of building, and was the one to call in the fire. Ferguson said the man got out safely, and no one was injured.
Radville Mayor Rene Bourassa was fast asleep when his daughter woke him up with a phone call to notify him, because the town fire siren wasn't working.
Bourassa headed over to the old building on Main Street as soon as he could, and saw that the back of the structure was already fully engulfed. He and other officials got on their phones to call in help.
And help came in droves.
Ceylon and District Fire Department joined the Radville-Laurier team, according to Ferguson. Others stepped up as well.
"Quite a few local farmers came with water trucks for us. We had a trucking company in town that has water trucks. They had two water trucks and brought extra water because it took a lot of water to try to control it," Ferguson said.
The deputy fire chief said people from Radville, which has a population of approximately 900, and the surrounding areas made a big difference in containing the blaze.
"For our fire department, whenever you need something, people are more than willing to help," Ferguson said.
Meanwhile, other members of the community gathered to watch the fire. Bourassa said the detached structures are quite the loss for Radville.
"It's going to be a big hole on Main Street, you know. It just feels like something's missing," he said.
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