Fire in Radville, Sask., destroys town office and much of emergency infrastructure

The town office in Radville, Sask., along with the attached fire hall and town shop, were destroyed in an early morning fire on Wednesday.

Crews from surrounding communities were dispatched to help the RadvilleFire Department fightthe fire, which broke out at 2:15 a.m. CST.

The cause of the fire in the town, about 134 kilometres south of Regina, has not been determined.

Mayor Rene Bourassa said the community is devastated by the loss, but thankful that no one got hurt.

"It was the heart of our community, everybody goes there," Bourassa said.

"It's your main go-to, it's all in one building. It's not like a bigger city where everything is spread out."

The town office was built more than a centuryago and had historical importanceto many residents, the mayor said.

Devastating losses for the fire department

Radville Fire Chief Daryl Ferguson said approximately half of the fire department's equipment is gone.

"We lost a tanker truck truck that we purchased a year ago, a prairie grass fire truck we built four years ago. We lost some turnout gear, some hoses and some pumps," Ferguson said.

The department was able to salvage two pumper trucks and some turnout gear.

"We're trying to find a place to get our trucks in the cold weather and a place that is easily accessible for us," Ferguson said.

"So that if we do get a call it's easy for us to get to and get the equipment out."

Radville will be covered by the Ceylon,Yellow Grassand Tribunefire departments through a mutual aid agreement until the local departmentisable to get back up and running.

Ferguson saidit will take at least a year to establisha new permanent fire hall.

Many town documents and office equipment were also lost in the fire.

"With the building costs and everything, it's going to be a multimillion dollar loss for our community," Ferguson said.

"It's going to be a struggle for a while to get everything replaced."