'Send your water': Sask. village loses hotel, Canada Post and town office in fire

A small Saskatchewan village has lost several important landmarks following a fire on Tuesday afternoon.

Cheryl Greuel, the mayor of Wiseton, Sask. says she was at work in a nearby community school when she received an urgent phone call.

"Around 1:45 I got a call saying that fire had been dispatched to Wiseton, and that the old bar was on fire," Greuel told CTV News.

Greuel says it appears the fire started in a truck parked near the old hotel and quickly spread from the bar of the hotel to the nearby village office. She quickly put out a call for help on social media, and nearby fire departments and neighbours answered the call.

(Source: Dave Westbury / Facebook)

"I actually went on Snapchat on our group chat, and I said the bar is on fire, send your water. And then I made Facebook posts and everybody shared that, and we made calls to the big farmers that we know have a lot of water, and they all come out," she said.

With the help of local farmers and the fire departments of nearby Dinsmore, Elrose and Milden, the fire was under control by 6 p.m.

On Wednesday, the fire still smoldered, with residents keeping an eye on the remains and watering down hot spots.

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The damage was extensive, with the hotel and town office completely destroyed, and with it, a safe containing the town's records and various artifacts.

"We had the minutes to every council meeting. That is all gone. Unfortunately, we could not go back in, and it went up so fast. And, I mean, we had to get out, right? Like, that was our main priority. Get everybody out. And unfortunately, everything else was lost," said Greuel.

Since the town office also housed the local Canada Post, services have to be moved to Dinsmore.

“Feeling pretty bad for my hometown of Wiseton,” former Wiseton resident Dave Westbury said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

“Even though the hotel has been closed for a while we all had a lot of good memories there. Never easy seeing a part of history being destroyed.”

(Source: Dave Westbury / Facebook)

Westbury said he was grateful there wasn’t stronger wind, as it could have pushed the fire to his parents’ and brother’s houses nearby.

“Huge thank you has to go out to all the fire departments involved and to all the farmers who brought water into town."

The village is unsure of how to deal with the pile of ash and rubble it's left with. It's not clear if insurance will cover it, or who will be left with the cleanup bill.

As the efforts to suppress the fire depleted the village's water supply, a boil water advisory is in place until it can refill.

Wiseton, which had a population of 79 people in the 2016 census, is located about 150 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon.

-With files from Canadian Press and John Flatters

Some hot spots still remained in the rubble of the Sask. Village of Wiseton's old hotel and town office the day after a fire, Sept. 4, 2024. (Chad Hills / CTV News)