1 less grain elevator 'to tell people they're home' after fire destroys Prairie icon in Waskada

Another piece of the past on the Prairie landscape has gone up in flames in rural Manitoba. 

A wooden grain elevator in the village of Waskada, just over 100 kilometres southwest of Brandon, was destroyed by fire early Tuesday morning.

"It was an icon and part of our community," said longtime resident Margaret Austin-Temple. "When people came home they saw it, and 'oh yeah there's Waskada, I can see it from a long way out.' So that will be missed."

It was built in 1961 to replace an elevator in the community that was destroyed by fire earlier that year, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

Tuesday's fire was reported around 5 a.m., said Maurice Saltel, reeve for the Municipality of Brenda-Waskada.    

"It's such a tragic event," Saltel said, adding it's fortunate winds were relatively light, which he said may have stopped the fire from spreading to other buildings in the village.

"It was good to have a situation where lives were not put at risk."

Approximately 50 firefighters from fire departments in Waskada, Pierson, Melita and Deloraine responded.

Saltel said the elevator eventually collapsed in the best direction possible, which prevented further damage.

It means there's one less place for farmers to store their grain, and while that's recoverable, Saltel the image of the elevator for people arriving in Waskada is now lost. 

"For people who grew up in rural places, they'll know that when they're away from home and they come home, the sign that tells them that they're home is their elevator," he said. "And there's just one less elevator to tell people they're home."

At their peak in the 1920s, Manitoba was home to more than 700 wooden grain elevators, but that number keeps getting smaller as they disappear due to fire, demolition and disrepair.

The Manitoba Historical Society maintains what spokesperson Gordon Goldsborough calls a grain elevator countdown, "assuming that we're eventually going to get down to a very small number."

After Tuesday's fire, the number stands at 115, he said. Around 60 of those are still in use.

What's different about the loss of the Waskada elevator is that, at more than 60 years old, it was among the elevators that are still in relatively good condition and structurally sound, said  Goldsborough.

"I think there'll be sort of a symbolic impact," he said. "For as long as most people in that area can remember, there has been this elevator on the horizon as you were driving towards Waskada. It's often the first thing you see from great distance, and it's gone now."

Saltel said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.