Fire destroys historic building in Kamsack, Sask.

An historic building in the Town of Kamsack has been destroyed by fire.

The building which was most recently known as the Woodlander Hotel and Liquour Store, was built in 1912 with a restaurant added in 1960.

An administrator for the town, Barry Hvidston, said 16 firefighters from Kamsack, about 475 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and volunteer firefighters from neighbouring Rhein responded to the blaze at about 11:15p.m. on Friday. At about 2:00 a.m. the east wall of the building collapsed.

When the fire crews determined they would not be able to save the building,they turned to "maintain-and-control efforts" to preventthe fire from spreading to neighbouring buildings, he said.

"Without their efforts, this fire could have gotten out of control and there would have been more than one building destroyed," Hvidston said.

The fire crews remained on the siteuntil about2:30 p.m. on Saturday, but are keeping an eye onthe still smoking site.

There were no deaths or injuries from the fire, Hvidston said.

The fire is still under investigation, Hvidston said, but it doesn't appear suspicious at this time. Nevertheless, he added, "it is always devastating when a community loses a historic building."

"This structure has been a staple in the Kamsack landscape for 111 years and it's sad to see it [go]."