(Wiseton Fire. Photo by Dean Keeler)
A devastating blow has been dealt to the tiny village of Wiseton, SK this week. A fire destroyed the community’s town office, post office, and their former bar/hotel. The bar closed just before the pandemic and had been converted into a private residence.
“The old hotel used to be a boarding house (and) it held the town office and the post office, so that’s our big loss,” explained local farmer and RM of King George councilor Ed Omiecinski.
The fire did more than just cripple the village’s decision making building, it also destroyed all of the community’s historical records from its very first meeting in the early 1900’s until the most recent one. Anyone who hadn’t picked up their mail from the post office also lost letters and flyers, forcing residents to go elsewhere for the time being to get their mail.
“We’ve got to go to Dinsmore, temporarily, for our mail about ten miles down the road,” said Omiecinski, who’s hopeful the Wiseton post office will return one day soon.
Omiecinski was born and raised in Wiseton and has fond memories of the former bar on main street which is now a total loss.
“Years ago there was a bar maid in there by the name of Debbie Powell (and) she was a Roughriders queen. You’d walk into that bar and thought you’d walk into Mosaic (Stadium). She was really, really a Roughriders fan,” he chuckled.
Multiple volunteer fire departments from Dinsmore, Milden, and Elrose plus local farmers responded to the fire and tried their best to save the buildings. The village of about 79 people will now determine what the next steps are and what to do with the considerable amount of rubble now sitting on main street. A cause has yet to be determined.
