An early morning fire left a Saskatchewan family’s seed-cleaning business burnt to the ground Saturday.
“Everything is gone,” said Grant Greenshields, owner of Greenshields Seeds in Semans, Sask.
He received a call from a neighbour around 4:30 a.m. informing him that several buildings on his facility’s property were on fire.
“They called 911 and then they called us,” he said from his home located about 12 kilometres from the business.
A small elevator, a warehouse and an office were destroyed in the blaze.
Neighbour Cheryl Tedford said she woke up to see the buildings fully engulfed in flames. She and her husband called the fire department before calling Greenshields.
Fire crews weren’t able to tackle the flames until the blaze died down after about an hour.
“The fire department was there but they just watched it burn because it was so big,” Tedford said. “Once it was smaller, then the fire department just put water to it.”
Greenshields said he’s devastated. His family first bought the business in 1983. His father helped heavily with the operations until he died in 1997, and his son now also helps in the shop.
The facility was built in 1958 and was used by the community before it was sold to Greenshields, he said. The family also farms and his son uses the business’s warehouse as a welding shop.
He said he's waiting on insurance before he decides what steps to take regarding the business’s future.
RCMP said no one was injured during the blaze and that the fire does not appear suspicious. A fire investigator is scheduled to attend the scene Monday.
Semans is located about 120 kilometres north of Regina.
