‘Quite devastating:’ Fire destroys iconic Yorkton landmark

A piece of Yorkton’s history was lost in a fire Thursday night.

One of the two barns on the Yorkton exhibition grounds is now a pile of charred wood and ash. The fire began around 9:30 p.m., and at this time, it is unknown what caused it.

The wooden barn was built in the 1940s. It was used predominantly to house horses during the community’s exhibitions and was one of the two main barns used on the grounds. The only service running to the building was electricity.

“It’s quite devastating to see that (Thursday) night, one of our horse barns, which is a big part of the Yorkton exhibition’s history, burned down in a fire,” said Barb Woytas, the general manager for the Yorkton Exhibition Association.

“We use these barns. They are a big part of our history (and) they are a very big part of our events. We still hold light horse shows, we have competitions at our Harvest Showdown that use the barns and most recently, we had the RCMP Musical Ride there and we were able to stable all of their horses in our barns.”

Woytas explained it’s still too early to decide what will be done next regarding the barn, but she said the organization will meet with the City of Yorkton to discuss the next steps and the future of the exhibition.

Yorkton Mayor Mitch Hippsley said the barn was a big loss to the community, but there are a few silver linings surrounding the unfortunate situation.

“We experienced a 100 per cent loss, but the fire was contained 100 per cent,” he said. “We had another barn right beside it that was also protected and saved, as well as a bush on the opposite side of it that was actually a concern as well. That was saved because it’s so dry out there.”

He said he’s one of many in the area who have a personal attachment to the barn.

“I was born in Yorkton and would walk to the fairgrounds every year when it would come in July,” he said. “I would walk across the railway tracks and right past those barns all the time and stop and walk through the barns and pet horses and see the cows and see all of the people that looked after that. So I have very vivid memories of those barns.”

No injuries have been reported, and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

The barn was built in the 1940s and was a fixture on the Yorkton exhibition grounds. (Barb Woytas/Submitted)