‘I just fled for my life’: Plunkett man recalls intense school fire

Nothing but charred rubble remains after a fire burned an old school building in the village of Plunkett, Sask. earlier this month.

Residents of the small community, 93 kilometres east of Saskatoon, told 650 CKOM the school likely closed more than three decades ago.

Piles of rubble is all that remains of the old Plunkett school after catching fire in August 2024. (Mike Pastor/Submitted)

Lyle Bentley, 76, said he bought the building years ago to operate a mechanic and welding shop to make ends meet in retirement.

Bentley was working at the shop when the fire erupted. Volunteer firefighters responded to a call of a massive cloud of smoke and fire engulfing the building.

“I was welding outside of my school and doing some air arcing. After I was done, I spent five or 10 minutes cleaning up my tools and putting them away,” Bentley explained. “I went back into the building to cool down in front of my exhaust fan, and then I smelt smoke.”

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Bentley shared that when he went outside to check on the smoke, the fire was already out of control. It took the volunteer fire department roughly 45 minutes to arrive on the scene.

“I have a sliding steel door and I went to go to close it to keep the fire from coming into the building … That’s when I burnt my face and hands, and the door was so hot I couldn’t close it, I just fled for my life.”

A huge cloud of smoke engulfs the old school in Plunkett, Sask. (Mike Pastor/Submitted)

Bentley said doctors told him he suffered second-degree burns while trying to protect the property.

Now he’s stressed about the bills he’ll need to pay. Bentley guesses there could be around $10,000 in expenses — from the fire department costs to the leased welding equipment in his shop.

“The cost of clean up and the disposal of materials … I have no idea what the final cost will be, but it will be large,” he said.

Bentley said he appreciates the local farmers who brought in water tanks to help the fire department and the well wishes from the citizens in the village.

A poker rally set for Aug. 23 aims to raise money to support Bentley to help cover the costs.

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