Red Crow College on Blood Reserve destroyed by fire

Hundreds of students are without a school after a fire broke out at the Red Crow Community College on the Blood Reserve nearCardstonon Friday.

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The fire broke outaround 5:30 a.m. and engulfed the entire building, destroying it.

"Think about three to five hundred families hearing about this this morning.It's going to be difficult news.People are going to be wondering if they're going to be going to school," said BillyWadsworth,a council member and a member of the board of governors for the college.

College vice president Henry Bigthroat says the bricks are still standing but the interior is gutted.However he says the college was planning to relocate this fallto a buildingabout 25 kilometres north inStandoff.

"But we just had to hurry that up for September, so I don't think there will be any major interruptions ...classes may be delayed a week or two or maybe not,so everything is under control," he said.

Blood Tribe Police Insp. Joseph Many Fingers says the building was engulfed by the time emergency crews arrived.

"At this time we don't know what the cause of the fire is. We've secured the scene from quite a ways away, because there's asbestos that's burning and there's toxic fumes the in air," he said.

The building was once the St. Mary's residential school, which closed in the 1980s.

"There's a lot of history there. So, I'm sure there's mixed feelings over it," saidHenry Bigthroat, vice president of student services at the college.

The building was retrofitted to become a college to meet the needs of the community. In 1995 it became the first tribal college in Canada.

"A good part is the students were able to learn their language and culture there,"saidWadsworth.