Iconic building burns in La Ronge industrial fire

A second industrial fire this week has claimed another building in Saskatchewan.

The fire happened at Lee’s Construction in La Ronge Wednesday afternoon.

“It was an iconic building in the community. It was the first one built in the industrial park. We constructed it ourselves,” owner Hugh Watt said Thursday.

He discovered the fire after returning from lunch shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday.

“There wasn’t a lot of wild flame and whatnot, it was just horrendous smoke,” he said.

After making sure no one was inside, Watt called the fire department and waited while the building burned; a semi-truck and forklift were among the materials inside.

“It was a hell of an experience for about four or five hours,” he said. “It’s finally setting in I guess. Yeah I’m quite upset, but what do you do?”

Watt helped construct the business in the summer of 1977. Lee’s Construction, named after his father, opened a year later.

He credits the La Ronge Fire Department for saving the out buildings, and thanked them for their efforts.  

Watt said due to another industrial fire this week, the one at rubber recycling plant Shercom Industries, the province will likely only make it out to the site Friday to begin its investigation into the cause.

No one was injured in the fire.

Watt said all that’s left now is to rebuild.

He’s hoping to access a few nearby shops in the meantime in order to keep his 16 employees busy and 14 trucks on the road.