Fire tears through Moosehead Inn in Kenosee

A “landmark” in the Village of Kenosee Lake was destroyed by fire early Saturday morning.

At about 12:30 a.m., firefighters were sent to the Moosehead Inn. It didn’t take long before crews realized they would need reinforcements from surrounding communities.

“The Moosehead is our largest building in the Village of Kenosee that’s operational right now,” said Clarke Lemieux, Chief of the volunteer fire department.

“With our small department, two trucks, we definitely needed some assistance if we were going to keep this thing under control and mitigate the damage.”

Pictures and video shared on social media showed the building consumed by flames and thick billowing smoke. Lemieux said backup came from Carlyle, Manor and Oxbow.

They fought the blaze through the night and were able to protect neighbouring homes but the Moosehead was lost. As of Saturday morning, crews were still on scene putting out hotspots.

“Fortunately, they were closed and there was nobody in the building so there are no injuries, no casualties. The owner of the business actually noticed it. He lives across the street. He called it in,” Lemieux said.

The owner was Dale Orsted, who bought the restaurant and nightclub in 1990. It was previously owned by Ethel and Archibald Grandison, used as a dance hall for teens.

“It’s absolutely devastating, really, when you look at what’s left of … a landmark of Moose Mountain,” Lemieux said.

Lemieux himself spent “a couple evenings” at the Moosehead. Its “world-famous pizza and incredible Djs” were what first came to mind.

“Dale Orsted always packs the house and really good dance hall upstairs so it’s something you don’t normally get in the southeast. It will be sorely missed,” he said.

The fire department was planning to hold its golf fundraiser that very day, capped off by a celebration at the Moosehead, Lemieux said.

While a big loss, he credited other volunteer firefighters with preventing a worse outcome.

“Without help last night, I don’t think our Kenosee department would have had such a successful result.”

— With files from Discover Weyburn’s Steven Wilson