Sask. community loses grain elevator to fire

Fire has destroyed the grain elevator in Prelate, Sask., a village about 385 kilometres west of Regina.

Jason Gizen, a volunteer firefighter in the community, said he rushed to help after looking out his window around 5 a.m. Tuesday to see the elevator engulfed in flames.

“I went running down to my truck with my keys, and I forgot to get dressed when I went outside. So I realized I’d better get dressed and I went back up,” he said.

Gizen said he arrived at the scene to find other volunteers already there.

“They were just sitting there watching it. There’s not much we could do about it. There were embers flying, so we were just trying to make sure nothing else started on fire,” he said.

Gizen said the flames were getting near a group of rail tanker cars parked near the elevator. Not knowing what was in the cars, firefighters opted to evacuate about 100 people.

The evacuees were allowed to return to their homes once the rail cars were moved.

Gizen said the fire was allowed to burn down through the day, and the elevator was a total loss by Tuesday afternoon.

He said many in the community were taking the loss of the building hard, as it was one of the last functioning elevators in the area.

“There’s a lot of good memories there, growing up as a kid taking grain in with my Dad and different things, and all the people that worked there. It’s a pretty sad day here. But nobody was hurt, so I guess that’s the main thing.”

Gizen said there’s still no word on what might have caused the blaze.