Watch above: The local hockey rink is the life blood of a community. Aaron Streck reports on a fire that destroyed the arena in Perdue, Sask. on Saturday, leaving residents in shock and disbelief.
PERDUE, Sask. – “I was in my driveway at about 2:30 p.m., I could hear what sounded like a roar, like a jet plane … I looked out and I could see black smoke coming out all the vents,” said Perdue Mayor Dave Miller.
There’s not much left of the Perdue hockey arena after a fire ravaged the over half-a-century-old facility Saturday.
“It didn’t take long, like an hour-and-a-half it was all over,” said Miller.
“It’s devastating, we were here yesterday and watched it burn as well but it’s terrible. It’s terrible for a small community like this,” said Kerry Donahue.
“The building itself was built in the early ’60s, 61-62. It was built by all volunteer labour, even the arch ribs were built, my dad worked on them I remember,” said Miller.
“Disbelief kind of, you just kind of feel numb,” said hockey coach Michael Gray. “Coming over the tracks into town and you look and it’s not there.”
Gray grew up 100 feet from the rink and has spent most of his childhood and adult years there.
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“It’s like every small town, it’s where a lot of kids grow up and families get together. There’s memories for everybody here since 1961,” said Gray.
Donahue can only look on in shock at what’s left of where she learned to skate.
“A skating rink is the heart of a community, we still had natural ice we were pretty proud of that … I don’t know. I mean we’re hoping we’re able to rebuild, if we couldn’t rebuild, if we didn’t have a rink we would be missing a huge chunk of our town here,” said Donahue.
While there’s no word on when or if a rebuild will happen, the rink is insured. The cost of the total loss should be known in the coming days. What caused the fire hasn’t been determined. The investigation continues.
Communities around Perdue have been reaching out to offer their facilities.
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