Iconic 'Corner Gas' grain elevator destroyed in early morning fire

REGINA -

A grain elevator located in Rouleau, Sask. known for its appearances in “Corner Gas” burned to the ground early on Friday morning.

According to the town of Rouleau, the fire began around 2 a.m. Fire crews arrived on scene just after 2:40 a.m. and found the entire elevator engulfed in flames. 

Wayne Rumford, the fire chief of the Rouleau and District Fire Department, said a cause has not yet been determined.

Fire crews from Pense, Wilcox and Rouleau were called in to assist with the blaze.

“Basically we had other departments come to help us with the amount of heat and protection of the town and highway, and it was probably about an hour to an hour and a half to get it down to where we could at least assess and do more work on it,” Rumford said.

Power was shut off for the whole town due to a downed power line at the site of the grain elevator.

“We were unable to work because of that, so SaskPower shut down the town until they could get everything safe and then they brought the town back on after,” the fire chief said.

The grain elevator was a landmark in the fictional town of Dog River and a popular tourist destination for fans of the show.

The "Dog River" grain elevator is seen in this photo taken in 2016. (CTV News)

“We still get lots of people here dropping in, and it’s a little disappointing now because there’s not much left of Corner Gas,” Rouleau Mayor Grant Clarke said. [The elevator] was one of the main ones actually. So yeah it will be missed, there’s no doubt."

Originally built in 1973, the structure was the last of seven original elevators that used to stand in the town.

Rouleau Mayor Grant Clarke stands with a photo of the seven grain elevators that used to stand in the town. (Kayleen Sawatzky/CTV News)

Last week, the town lost another piece of the show when the old police station building collapsed.

"There’s nothing there now, it’s all cleaned up. So there’s not very much of Dog River, associated with Corner Gas,” Clarke said.

Corner Gas executive producers Brent Butt, Virginia Thompson and David Storey said they are “deeply sorry” to hear about the news of the grain elevator, in a joint-statement Friday.

“On behalf of the entire Corner Gas crew and community we send our love to the town of Rouleau. We're thankful that the majestic Dog River Grain Elevator has been captured for posterity in the Corner Gas sitcom, movie and in the animated series. May it live on, and on, and on," the producers said.

Rouleau is located approximately 50 kilometres southwest of Regina.

With files from CTV Morning Live Regina's Kayleen Sawatzky