Tribune
THE OLDEST WEEKLY NEWSPAPER IN THE CANADIAN WEST
Volume 137 Issue 14 Friday, June 14, 2019
INSIDE Fire Destroys Clanwilliam Home
this week By DARRYL HOLYK
T he Michaelis family of
Clanwilliam lost their
home and contents Mon-
day night when fire rav-
aged the two-and-a-half
storey older wood frame
house.
“Everything we had
was in there,” said Jody Mi-
Sgt. Scott chaelis, as she watched her
home burn. “I guess now
Collen we start over.”
Jody was at work when
Honoured she received a call from her
3
husband, Bruce, telling her
their home was burning.
Fortunately, no human in-
juries were reported and
Bruce was able to rescue
the family’s dogs from the
burning building. How-
ever, one of their two cats
was still unaccounted for
at press time Wednesday.
Local emergency per-
sonnel, including RCMP,
EMS and Minnedosa Fire
Department were on scene
shortly after the call came
in at 7:35 Monday night.
Tribute to The local fire crew initial-
ly attempted to save the
home but sadly, a number
Tourism of factors made it impos-
sible. “With the balloon
Winners framing, it (the fire) was
9
into the attic very fast,” ex-
plained Minnedosa Fire
Chief, Dean Jordan. “When
we arrived on scene we
tried to make entry but
couldn’t get in the rear of
the home and the front
was engulfed. The velocity
of smoke exiting the sof-
New Bed For fit and roof indicated the
fire was into the structure
Palliative making it unsafe to enter,
so we had to take a defen-
Care Room
sive attack.”
Believed to have
2
started in the home’s
kitchen as a result of the
stove being accidently left
on, flames quickly con-
sumed the house and its
contents. In addition to
The
www.minnedosatribune.com
Photo by Darryl Holyk
family members, a large
crowd of friends, neigh-
bours and observers filled
Clanwilliam’s Main Street
and watched helplessly
as the home was razed.
Minnedosa firefighters
remained on scene until
midnight to ensure the fire
did not flare up or spread
to any neighbouring struc-
tures.
The old foursquare-
style home, with its fa-
miliar blue exterior wood
siding, has been part of
the village’s Main Street
Minnedosa
Since 1883
90 cents plus tax
appearance for well over a
century. Built in the early
1900’s, the home was occu-
pied for many years by Bob
and Tessie McQuarrie and
family. Bob was an early
Clanwilliam merchant
who opened a general
store in 1903. After his first
store burned in 1921, he
built the brick store on the
west side of Main Street,
across the street and a little
south of his home. The old
McQuarrie store continues
to operate today under the
ownership of Maxine Mut-
ter and also houses the
Clanwilliam Post Office.
Following the McQuarrie’s,
the home was occupied by
Clayton and Glenda Reid
and family who sold the
property to the Michaelis’
approximately 15 years
ago.
Once it was evident the
home and contents would
be a total loss, Bruce and
Jody’s friend, Nicci Inkster,
started a Go Fund Me page
online to help raise money
to assist the Michaelis fam-
ily in starting over. As we
go to print, the Go Fund
Me account was sitting at
just over $400.
Photo submitted by Darren Charron