Arson suspected in blaze at Saskatchewan band office, RCMP post

By Charlene Tebbutt, For Postmedia News November 14, 2011

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — Police are looking for tips after

Montreal Lake band office arsoned

an arsonist torched the band office and adjacent RCMP detachment on the Montreal Lake Cree Nation Monday morning.

RCMP Cpl. Rob King say a fire was first noticed at around 9:30 a.m.

It started on the second floor of the building and was limited to three of the band’s administrative offices, police said. The RCMP detachment, which is on the main floor of the building, sustained smoke damage.

The band has a volunteer fire department, but it was not able to help with the fire Monday, officials said. Duane McKay, the province’s fire commissioner, said small and northern communities often have limited firefighting personnel.

The lack of a fire department was an issue earlier this year when two people were killed in a house fire in nearby Timber Bay. It took emergency dispatchers about half an hour to find a fire department willing to drive to the community near Montreal Lake, which is about 250 kilometres north of Saskatoon.

McKay said fire departments are usually volunteers who spend a lot of their time training and even fundraising. Many structure fires now involve increased risk as firefighters must deal with plastics and other significant dangers, he said.

“They do this in their spare time,” McKay added. “The dangers are significant [and] just for a community to sustain that is a chore.”

McKay expects investigators will have a preliminary report on the Montreal Lake fire within the next few days.

No one from the Montreal Lake Cree Nation band office could be reached for comment on Monday.

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