The fire broke out on Tuesday in the elevator of the Lake of the Woods Milling Company, which dates back to 1897. Crews from The Den Authentic Barnwood, who bought the elevator, were working to recover the wood from construction.
Owner Troy Angus said the fire started during the cleaning phase. The crews carried out controlled burning of debris in a nearby mud. The workers stayed behind to ensure that the fire from the controlled burn would be extinguished as soon as it was over.
“The wind was coming from the south all day and after the last hour of the day, the wind started to change directions against us,” Angus said.
The Lake of the Woods Milling Company grain elevator was built in September 1897. It was dismantled after remaining for almost 125 years in the southwestern community of Manitoba on the Elbe. It is believed to be the oldest surviving wood grain elevator in Canada. March 4, 2022 (Source: Josh Crabb / CTV News)
As the burn was happening, an ember floated in the air and went into a hole in the elevator the size of a football, Angus said.
“It lit up on contact,” he said. “We saw everything happen, we reacted immediately and we knew that the elevator should go down immediately.
“Within 10 minutes, the elevator was completely submerged and headed down.”
Angus said he and the team used equipment to help lower the burning elevator and divert fire from nearby power lines.
He said no one was injured.
“It’s a terrible thing because it was not part of the plan,” Angus said. “The plan was to save this elevator and get the wood back and save it from the fire, and ironically, it was on fire.”
Angus said a nearby United Grain Growers elevator also purchased by his company was undamaged and his crew will work to recover the wood from that elevator.
“The work must continue, there are no two ways to do it,” he said. “We have an elevator, there is a huge amount of wood that we will have to collect to make up for what we lost.”
