Fire guts Portage la Prairie landmark
Everyone safe and accounted for: RCMP
Last Updated: Thursday, August 31, 2006 | 7:09 PM CT
CBC News
Fire has destroyed the century-old downtown Portage Hotel Thursday morning in Portage la Prairie, Man., where hundreds of athletes are taking part in a national event.
The fire, which started at about 6:30 a.m., has all but consumed the brick building on Saskatchewan Avenue, the city's main street, eyewitnesses told CBC News.
All 15 people in the hotel at the time were safe and accounted for, Portage RCMP Const. Dave Spakowski said Thursday. But fire officials said the only way to make sure the fire is out is by demolishing the building.
Flames engulf a 105-year-old Portage La Prairie, Man. Hotel on Thursday.
(Ken Gigliotti/Winnipeg Free Press - Canadian Press)
Portage la Prairie, a city of about 20,000, is hosting about 700 competitors at the Canada Senior Games. The event began Tuesday and ends Saturday.
All athletes staying at the hotel are safe, Spakowski said.
"There were 13 people from the Team Ontario hockey team that were staying in temporary residence inside the hotel at the time. They were all able to get out."
Firefighters battled major fire at the Portage Hotel Thursday morning.
(CBC)
The hockey team was considered one of the favourites in the tournament. But all of its gear was destroyed by the fire — including sticks, skates and clothes — so the the team is going home early.
Resident loses everything
Three full-time residents of the hotel were also safe. But Edmond Henderson said the flames took every possession he owned.
"I lost my TV, my stereo, my microwave, my dishes, all my clothes, my cell phone, $20 in cash, my watch … that's all my stuff," he said.
Spakowski said no staff members were in the building at the time of the fire.
Portage fire officials believe the fire began on the second floor of the hotel. No other buildings sustained major damage by the blaze.
Fire crews came from as far away as Winnipeg to help Portage firefighters battle the blaze, but no one could save the building.
"It's basically like a chimney: It's all brick outside, wood-frame construction, which tends to keep the fire inside very intense," said Portage fire Chief Dennis Nodrick.
Fire 'like a horrible nightmare'
Hotel owner Dave Andrews said he had just finished renovating the suites and the bar inside.
"It's like a horrible nightmare that I'm not waking up from," Andrews said. "I worked my butt off making it it the best hotel in Manitoba … and now it's gone."
The building did not have a sprinkler system. Andrews said the hotel was insured, but he's not sure whether or when he is going to rebuild.
'I worked my butt off making it it the best hotel in Manitoba … and now it's gone.'—Portage Hotel owner Dave Andrews
Leslie Green of the Portage Historical Society told CBC News the hotel, built in 1905, was a Portage institution.
"It was the place to be in Portage," Green recalled, as he watched the roaring blaze from across the street.
"I remember going there years ago, where you'd have fine banquets there. There was a fine staircase where the bride would come down.
By Thursday afternoon, most of the flames were out, leaving a charred, smoking skeleton of the building.
'Days of grandeur'
"It's past its days of grandeur. But the people who are running it now, they're making quite a go of it, as I understand," Green said.
Dozens of residents and passersby gathered on the sidewalk across the street to watch the blaze Thursday morning. Many called the building a landmark and a gathering place.
Rebecca Houle walked from her house to the hotel while the fire was in full force.
"When I got here, the top of the roof was all in flames, big flames. And apparently they called fire trucks in to help them, but the wind's been picking up, so it's not really helping them too much," she said.
Houle noted she had a personal reason to mourn the building's demise.
"The building's 101 years old, and I met my husband here 15 years ago," she said. "I met a lot of people here in this place, and it was actually an exciting place."
