Arson blamed for fire at Blessed Sacrament Parish in downtown Regina

Regina’s deputy fire chief said Friday a fire that broke out at Blessed Sacrament Parish early in the morning was a case of arson.

“We have done a thorough investigation and it was an intentionally set fire,” Deputy Chief Gord Hewitt said. “We’re working with our Regina Police Service right now on providing those details to them.”

Police don’t have any suspects; they’re asking anyone with information about the fire to call them at 306-777-6500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

The fire department was notified at around 3:40 a.m. about alarms going off at the church at 2049 Scarth St. When crews arrived, they saw flames on the outside of the building at the back of the property.

“Our crews managed to contain the fire to the exterior,” Hewitt said. “Internally, it was just smoke, which we managed to ventilate (from) the property.”

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Hewitt didn’t have an estimate on the damage.

Assistant Chief Chad Wolbaum said earlier Friday that nobody was hurt in the fire.

A person walking by said the damage to the building was “such a shame.”

Firefighters arrived at around 3:40 a.m. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

Rae Street fire

One person was taken to hospital by paramedics after a house fire in the 900 block of Rae Street on Thursday afternoon.

In a social media post, Regina Fire and Protective Services said a call was received just before 2:30 p.m. about a “fully involved house fire.”

Crews are on scene of a house fire 900 Blk Rae St. Fully involved house fire reported at 2:29pm. One person injured and treated by RFPS Paramedics. Transported to hospital by EMS. Firefighters are continuing salvage and overhaul operations. Fire will be under investigation. #YQR pic.twitter.com/urK76QCPcV

— Regina Fire (@Regina_Fire) February 8, 2024

The fire department said the cause of the blaze was under investigation.

The fire occurred in the same block as a blaze that resulted in a charge of attempted murder against a Regina woman in January. There was a fatal house fire one block over on Rae Street in December.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Gillian Massie