Easter blaze destroys First Nation’s church

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This article was published 04/04/2021 (1874 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A large, “devastating” fire destroyed the only church at a remote First Nation in northern Manitoba on Easter Sunday.

St. Theresa Point is an Oji-Cree community that can only be reached by either plane or boats in the summer or ice-roads during winters. It’s located about 610 kilometres from Winnipeg.

About an hour after morning mass at the St. Theresa Point Church, a blaze erupted from what appeared to be the entrance of the building, said Chief Marie A. Wood in an interview.

Wood told the Free Press nothing but scraps have been left as a result of the incident that engulfed the 65-year-old church.

“Thankfully, no one was injured because everyone had already left by the time our beautiful, planned mass was over,” she said.

“But the population of our community is 99 per cent Roman Catholic. This is our only church, our only place for community and for worship. There’s nothing left there anymore… it’s just completely heartbreaking, especially because it happened on Easter.”

According to Christopher Knott, St. Theresa’s local fire chief, the church was completely engulfed in flames well before crews had arrived at the scene.

The cause is still under investigation, with help from the RCMP. Mounties and fire workers did not comment about any further details.

People from the community — “crying, sobbing and teetering”— went to watch the church burn, Wood described. Many were heartbroken because they heard church bells ring Sunday morning for the last time only moments before the fire.

Father Victor Ferdinand stood by and supported the anguished community members. “But nothing could be done except for fire crews to secure the area and control the burn,” said Wood.

Over the past year, there have been many fundraising efforts made by the community to try and build a new church.

“This one had a lot of structural and plumbing issues,” said Wood. “It’s in need of repairs, but loving hands and hard work have made it possible to keep its doors open for our devout parishioners.”

The community plans to work together and recover this loss through renewed fundraising efforts.

“We will always have faith that things happen for a reason,” said Wood. “All we can do now is remember the wonderful memories the building holds forever in our hearts.”

Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur