The famous Devil’s Gap on Lake of the Woods faced its second severe fire in eight years over the weekend.
On Friday evening, Kenora Fire and Emergency Services fought a fire near Devils Gap Lodge, which is located on Rat Portage First Nation. Crews arrived to find both forest and buildings burning.
They fought the blaze into the early hours of Saturday, bringing it under control by 1 a.m. Crews remained on site until 3:30 am and then returned later in the day to put out hot spots, said Kenora Fire Chief Todd Skene.
The operation included three tanker trucks, five pumpers, and 22 firefighters, he added.
“A Longbow Lake Volunteer Fire Brigade’s tanker was brought in to help with shuttling water to the suppression pumpers.”
Seven buildings were destroyed in the fire, though luckily they were all uninhabited and no injuries were reported.
This is not the Gap’s first run-in with forest fire. Another large blaze in 2012 caused severe damage to the lodge and some surrounding buildings, which is why most of it has been sitting empty for the past eight years.
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