Two generations of the Agar family stood side by side, watching their childhood home-turned-business burn to the ground.
“It was an old, character home,” Agar’s Corner owner Don Agar said.
“One hundred years of history just went up in there today.”
The house was built in 1916 and was known as Agar’s Corner.
While nobody currently lives in the house, generations of Agars have called the property home since 1906.
Don lives in a separate home on the property, as do his parents – he said there are currently five generations of Agars living on the property.
Over the years, Agar’s Corner has become a popular destination for events and weddings.
“It was my family’s homestead and we turned it into a catering business,” Agar said. “My wife and I have been doing it for 12 years.”
At least five fire crews from the Saskatoon Fire Department were called to the century-old home located on Highway 16 and Floral Road just after 4:40 a.m. CT on Tuesday. The property is about 10 kilometres east of Saskatoon.
“We had the alarm go off this morning, got over here and the whole basement was in flames,” Agar said.
One woman was inside the building at the time; she managed to escape unharmed as crews arrived.
“We attempted on a number of occasions to get our staff inside, but in all of them they encountered some extreme heat,” Wayne Rodger, assistant chief with the fire department, said. “It was determined we would pull all of our staff out and continue the efforts from the exterior.”
According to officials, the fire’s location made it difficult to battle the blaze; crews were pulled out when the floor began to soften.
“It’s expected when you have a basement fire,” Rodger said. “Usually the stairwell is your chimney, and it’s forcing all that hot air up on to the main floor.”
The fire was under control four hours later, but the house was lost.
With more than 20 weddings scheduled over the next two years, Agar is asking anyone who may have booked to immediately contact him as all their records were lost in the blaze.
Despite the loss, the Agars remain resilient.
“Hopefully we’ll rebuild here, probably not the old house, but something,” Agar said.
WATCH: Agar’s Corner owner on fire that destroyed business
The fire commissioner is investigating the cause of the blaze.
There is no word on the cost of the damage.