Iconic Long Creek Saloon destroyed in overnight blaze

Sunday night a fire claimed the Long Creek Saloon and a neighbouring restaurant.

The fire destroyed two businesses, caused severe damage to a third, and impacted downtown Radville.

After a long night, the crews are now focusing on the hot spots in the remnants of the buildings. (Submitted)

Darryl Fergason is the deputy fire chief in Radville. He confirmed there were no injuries in the blaze, and they are still looking into the cause of the fire, which he said started around 12:30 a.m. Crews spent the night battling the fire and were continuing to douse the hot spots in the remnants of the buildings as the sun rose.

Crews from the Radville and Ceylon Fire Departments battled the blaze throughout the night. (Photo courtesy Shannon Verhelst)

“The Ceylon Fire Department came over and helped us, and we had a couple of local farmers come in with water trucks for us,” said Ferguson as he took a moment from the night-long battle against the fire. “A couple of water trucks from local town folks here too.”

The fire was hot enough to melt the siding on a building across the street to the west of the saloon. Crews sprayed water on buildings to the south but windows cracked.

The intense heat from the fire melted the siding on a building across the street. (Submitted)

Windows across the street broke due to the intense heat. (Submitted)

“We can’t thank enough, you know, the farmers in the community, the businesses, for, you know, water trucks… that takes a whole bunch of water to supply,” said Radville’s mayor, Rene Bourassa, who noted the town is already having concerns with the water supply.

Around 10 Radville residents and the surrounding area, came out with water trucks to assist in battling the blaze. In all, Bourassa said around 50 people helped contain the fire.

The Long Creek Saloon and a neighbouring business were destroyed in the blaze. (Submitted)

The weather conditions were favourable.

“If that would have been a heavy wind, it could have took the whole main street out, right from the Bank of Commerce right down to the train station,” Bourassa shared.

Crews from the Radville and Ceylon Fire Departments battled the blaze throughout the night. (Photo courtesy Shannon Verhelst)

On social media, residents of Radville were posting the images they captured of the fire and shared their memories of the local establishment.

The fire itself comes just weeks after the Town of Radville officially opened its new town office after its old one was claimed in a fire in November of 2022.