A local landmark in Tantallon, Sask., completely burnt down early Thursday morning.
The Valley View Hotel burnt for six hours, and Rocanville fire Chief Owen Wilson said it’s “completely gone.”
The Rocanville Fire Department received a call for the fire at about 2:20 a.m. CT.
“It’s a 25-minute drive from Rocanville to Tantallon, so by the time we got there it was fully involved,” Wilson said.
The fire was contained about six hours later, according to Wilson.
“It’s a tin sheeting on the outside, so it’s pretty hard for water to do anything until you get the tin ripped off.”
There were no occupants inside the building when the fire occurred and the cause is not known at this time.
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Multiple factors allowed the fire to cause extensive damage, including it being “an old building, and travel time.”
“It’s hard to save those kinds of buildings when you get the call that far along.”
When it comes to whether the structure can be revived at all, Wilson said, “there’s not a whole lot left.”
On a social media post by Moosomin’s newspaper, The World Spectator, past patrons and community members shared grief over the damaged structure.
Commenter Giles Norek said the loss of the building is “a big loss for the owners, Village of Tantallon, and many other surrounding communities.”
Norek went on to say it was the “heart of Tantallon” adding, “townspeople, quadders and sledders, ranchers, miners, and farmers alike will surely miss this iconic place. This is one place that should be rebuilt.”
The hotel was on sale at the time of the fire and had been on the market “off and on for eight years”, according to the hotel’s owner, Kyle Bruce.
Tantallon is about 225 kilometres east of Regina.
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