Wood Mountain, SK grain Elevator FIRE July 1997

The Pioneer branded elevator with an annex attached, was full of grain. Before evening in July (31st?) 1997, lightning struck the top of the elevator at least once, likely twice as two massive cracks of thunder were heard, and there was a surge in electrical power that damaged an audio tape that I was playing at the time.

The elevator started on fire, and a small hole in the side of the top, probably a window, started leaking smoke. The leg of the elevator was too small for fire fighting crews to go up it with breathing equipment in to attempt to extinguish the flames. A defensive posture was taken by the fire crews on scene, and they prevented the burning debris from catching neighbouring buildings, including a house north of the railway tracks, on fire.

Because no water was used on the elevator itself, the grain was very salvageable. The town smelled a bit like baked bread days after the fire.

BBS CKCK CTV Regina newscast with my video footage shot with Mielke's VHS video camera.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• elevator
• Saskatchewan
• grain
• Wood Mountain
• fire
• TV
• BBS
• CKCK
• Regina
• CTV
• newswatcher