LT’s Food and Fuel getting through tough times after recent fire

Hong Cam, owner of LT’s Food and Fuel, has been counting his blessings recently.

Thanks to a passing driver his business, located on Highway 2 at the turnoff to Waskesiu, was saved from a recent fire. Although the motel burnt down during the May. 4 blaze, the restaurant, gas station and living quarters for Cam’s family all managed to make it through the fire with little to no damage.

Cam says it’s all still very fresh in his memory.

“At first, when we have the fire there, we (didn’t) even know. The customer on the highway stopped by to let us know that it’s burning in the back,” Cam explained.

Despite the unfortunate events, Cam’s brother Tim Tran said he is trying to look at the situation from a glass half-full perspective.

“Considering all the circumstances, things could be a lot worse. We are very thankful that the customer came in and alerted us, otherwise things could be a lot more devastating,” Tran said

Looking ahead to the May long weekend, Cam said this is one of their busiest weekends and he was happy they can still provide fuel and a place to eat.

While the business will have a chance to move on thanks to the help of the Good Samaritan and firefighters, Tran said it’s still going to take a while to get over it.

“It traumatized us, but we are getting used to things. We’ve never experienced anything similar, and it was a very scary incident,” Tran said. “We were thankful that God was on our side that day and saved the day.”

Tran still has photos and videos from the fire on his phone that he sometimes looks through. He says it’s hard to believe.

“It traumatizes you for days. Even at night, sometimes I wake up at 3 a.m., (and I) look out to see in the back if the fire is out,” Tran said.

Tran said he knows it’s going to be a long process to get things back to the way they were, but with the help of the community, he knows it’s possible.

“(They are) very supportive, and we’re all thankful for that. We are the last stop between Prince Albert and La Ronge so this facility here is an iconic location for the locals and it’s been here for the last 30 years,” Tran said.

“They are very thankful, and they even phone to comfort us and ask us how we’re doing, so the locals have been very supportive toward what has happened.”

Tran said they will be forever thankful to the local fire agencies and the kind citizen who each played a role in ending the fire in the quickest manner possible.