Bentley Alta., grain elevator destroyed by fire – Edmonton | 24CA News

An historic grain elevator within the Town of Bentley, Alta., northwest of Red Deer, has been fully destroyed by fireplace.

Reports that the grain elevator was burning got here in early Friday morning round 1:30.

Both the Bentley and Lacombe fireplace departments responded with roughly 20 firefighters working by the frigid evening.

“We had to fight the fires in 15-minute shifts because that’s as long as you can stay out there,” Bentley fireplace chief Ian McLaren stated.

He stated the chilly was the largest problem.

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“We started to have things freezing up,” McLaren defined.

“We had a hydrant freeze up and some of the lines in the truck started to freeze up and hoses frozen into the ground — things like that.”

McLaren stated by the point fireplace crews arrived, the grain elevator was fully engulfed in flames.

“This is a once-in-a-career probably situation,” McLaren stated.

“This is the biggest fire in terms of size that I’ve ever attended in my time as a firefighter.”

On Saturday fireplace crews have been dousing the remnants of the construction, which have been nonetheless smoldering.

“This won’t go out until it is cleared away,” McLaren stated.

The grain elevator is thought to be the city’s centre piece.

“We’re kind of known for our elevator, so it’s a big loss — kind of a landmark,” Town of Bentley mayor Greg Rathjen stated.

“They’re not building them all the time now… so it was just a historical thing here that was really special.”

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Rathjen famous it was a part of many neighborhood occasions.

“On the elevator we put a giant display we’d have a drive-in service — a drive-in film.

Recently, new ‘welcome’ and ‘thanks for visiting’ indicators have been put up that includes the grain elevator.

Rathjen stated whereas it’s robust to see it go like this, it’s an opportunity for Bentley to be identified for extra than simply the historic construction.

“This is sad, but hey, we move on,” he stated.

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