Rumours swirl as Loon Lake’s St. George Anglican Church burns to ground

Residents in the town of Loon Lake are grieving following a fire that destroyed a longstanding church in the community.

Built in 1939, the St. George Anglican Church went up in flames around 5 a.m. on Saturday. Everything inside the building burned, with the only remnants of the church being a weathered sign out in front of where the entrance used to be.

The charred ruins of St. George Anglican Church in Loon Lake that was burned to the ground on Sept. 28, 2024. (Facebook/MeadowLake Now)

Local residents took to social media to share photos of the church, and the countless memories associated. However, some residents also expressed their frustration and believe the fire was set deliberately in relation to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation tomorrow, which wouldn’t be the first incident of its kind.

In 2021, the Polish Roman Catholic Church near Redberry Lake was torched during a series of church burnings and vandalism across Canada that followed the discoveries of suspected unmarked graves at the sites of several former residential schools.

The same thing happened the following year at Our Lady of the Smile Church on Waterhen Lake First Nation.

Loon Lake RCMP said in a news release on Sunday said no one was in the church at the time and no injuries had been reported to police

Police said the investigation — which includes the circumstances surrounding how the fire started — is in its preliminary stages.

Residents in the area of the church are also asked to check their security camera footage and contact police if they note anything out of the ordinary.

Anyone with information is asked to call Saskatchewan RCMP at 310-RCMP, or to inform Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or at saskcrimestoppers.com.

— with files from 650 CKOM News

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