A longtime Lake Country business went up in flames Thursday night, suffering what the town’s deputy fire chief called “catastrophic damage.”
The fire started at around 6:20 p.m. Thursday and once crews arrived, it was “pretty obvious that it was in the roof system,” Brent Penner, Lake Country Fire Department’s deputy chief said.
That meant they had to do an exterior attack, Penner said, and the “roof came down pretty quick.”
“The upper floor has been fully destroyed,” Penner said.
“Downstairs, there may be an opportunity to salvage a few things there.”
He added that the fire is under investigation but nothing suspicious has been seen as of yet. Fire crews will be there throughout Friday for further assessment.
There was no damage to neighbouring businesses, Penner said.
The bakery was well loved staple and within hours of the fire a fundraiser was set up by the previous owner.
“I am Fritz the baker..a lot of people know me as the previous owner of the Winfield bakery. A sad day today. The bakery burned down..so a couple of good people lost their job,” he said. He said he’d like to help out and asked the community to chip in as well.
“I don’t find the right words to explain what I feel, so I just leave it like this,” he wrote.