Regina community fridge burns in North Central neighbourhood

A community initiative to help people in need went up in flames in Regina’s North Central neighbourhood on Tuesday evening.

A fire ended up destroying a nearby community fridge.

A social media post from Regina Fire & Protective Services said crews responded to a commercial fire on the 3000 block of Dewdney Avenue just before 6 p.m.

“We’re pretty devastated about it,” volunteer Noelle Seidlikoski told 980 CJME on Wednesday.

“It really doesn’t just impact the people who use the fridge for access to food, it has quite the impact on community members, neighbours, volunteers and some of our donors, as well as people that we’ve partnered with who help support us with such generosity over the years.

“It’s quite an impact because I think the space has been a way that we can collectively care for a community, and now it’s not there.”

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Regina fire’s post said the fire was contained quickly to an exterior structure with “minor smoke damage” to the interior.

Seidlikoski said the damage represents a total loss. She said the fridge was approaching its fifth-year anniversary.

RFPS responded to a commercial fire 3000 Blk Dewdney Ave at 5:49pm. Fire was contained quickly to an exterior structure with minor smoke damage to the interior. Crews remain on scene clearing smoke from the building. No injuries reported. #YQR pic.twitter.com/AYaFXBbCnz

— Regina Fire (@Regina_Fire) December 3, 2025

A few hours later, a post on the ‘Regina Community fridges’ Facebook page showed a photo of the fridge and pantry burned and destroyed.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Regina fire said it was actively investigating the cause of the fire — and whether or not it was an accident or deliberately set. Deputy Chief Gord Hewitt said the cause was unclear, but Regina Fire might have more details on Thursday.

Seidlikoski said the fridge is meant to provide food to people experiencing food insecurity.

“It’s a place where there’s no judgment, there’s no hoops to jump through to get to food, there’s no forms to fill out. It’s simply just: take what you need and leave what you can,” Seidlikoski said.

Seidlikoski added that anyone was welcome to drop off food for the fridge.

The situation is reminiscent of a fire started at a community fridge in the Cathedral Neighbourhood in Sept. 2024. In that case, Regina fire said the blaze was deliberately set.

Seidlikoski said that community fridge is operated by a different group of volunteers.

Google Maps shows the community fridge behind a pharmacy on Dewdney Avenue before the fire. (Google Maps)

Rebuilding

Seidlikoski said a lot of community support went into building the first fridge, especially from the pharmacy that owns the land. However, she acknowledged it would take a lot of time and effort to rebuild another one.

“We just hope people don’t lose hope, especially at this time of the year when it can be a struggle for folks,” she said.

“We want to rebuild and hopefully we can come back stronger in the future.”

Regina Community Fridge (Dewdney Avenue) has a GoFundMe page and also accepts donations from its official email.

— with files from 980 CJME’s Daniel Reech