Lac du Bonnet landmark Dancyt’s burns to ground
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/10/2009 (6018 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A third-generation grocery store located in the heart of Lac du Bonnet for 63 years was destroyed by fire Tuesday.
Only rubble remains where Dancyt’s Foods on 3rd Street once stood.
"It’s the end of an era. It’s kind of overwhelming right now," owner Curtis Dancyt said.
"My grandfather built it in 1946. I grew up in there and so did my kids. It’s pretty hard right now."
RCMP said the fire was reported at about 4:20 a.m.
Fire chief Omer Lavoie said crews found a fire burning between the grocery store and the Lakeview Inn Steakhouse and Pub. Lavoie said the fire burned its way into a room at the hotel and the grocery store.
Crews were able to extinguish the hotel fire first, Lavoie said, but the fire in the grocery store had spread by the time they could tackle it. Fire and smoke could be seen from Pinawa, about 15 kilometres away.
Lavoie said there was water and smoke damage to the rest of the hotel and smoke damage to an adjacent home. Hotel staff and guests were forced out earlier in the morning. There were no injuries.
"It’s totally gone," Mayor Paul Chapman said. He said the fire is devastating to the community, adding it’s the largest commercial fire in recent memory. "I just feel so badly for our local business owners," said resident Saija Parthenais, who rushed to the scene when he saw the smoke rising from the centre of town. "There were a few townsfolk standing at the perimeter of the scene, in shock, just as I was."
Dancyt’s Foods was a unique grocery. "We had a smoke house and made our own smoked sausage, hamburger patties, jerky, deli meats and meatloaf," Dancyt said.
They also butchered wild meat for hunters. "We had four or five moose burn up. There’s going to be some disappointed hunters," he said.
Dancyt is insured.
Volunteer firefighters from two communities, the RM of Alexander and Pinawa, assisted volunteers from Lac du Bonnet. The fire also required the assistance of a privately owned forest-firefighting helicopter, Chapman said. The chopper made several runs to the lake, picking up water and then dropping it onto the burning store.
The cause is under investigation.
aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca