‘Quite a loss’: RCMP detachment in Morse, Sask. destroyed by fire

A town along Highway 1 is cleaning up after a fire gutted its RCMP detachment over the weekend.

The Mounties confirmed to 980 CJME that the fire started at the Morse detachment on Sunday evening.

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Mayor Rocky Penner said he got a call from the town’s fire chief telling him to head to the water plant around 6:10 p.m. The chief asked Penner to clear the filters so the crew had enough water to fight the flames at the local detachment.

Fire crews hose off hot spots at the Morse fire department on Sunday. (Lyle Patenaude/Discover Swift Current)

“It’s quite a loss when you lose something like that,” he said. “Will we ever get that back in our little community? Hard to say.”

Penner said he knows that the federal police force is struggling with staffing in Saskatchewan, so he’s not sure what the future will hold.

The mayor said he rushed from the water plant to the RCMP detachment after clearing the filters at the water plant.

When he arrived, the roof was partially engulfed in flames and thick smoke was billowing away from the building, he said.

“The roof had already collapsed, and there were flames coming out of the living quarters of the barracks,” Penner said.

Fire investigators are still working to determine cause of the blaze.

Penner said nobody was inside the detachment when the fire started, and nobody was hurt.

The mayor said he stayed at the scene until 3 a.m. while fire crews doused hot spots at the detachment.

Fire deemed not suspicious in nature

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency was on the scene of the fire Monday, according to a release sent out by the Saskatchewan RCMP.

The release said, “it is not believed the fire is suspicious in nature.”

RCMP also stressed that despite the loss, the area will continue to be policed by the Morse RCMP, with support from the Swift Current RCMP.

“We’ve lost the detachment but this does not change our commitment to keeping the communities in the detachment area safe,” said Insp. Jill McLaren, Saskatchewan RCMP South District Operations Officer, in the release.

“Saskatchewan RCMP does regular contingency planning, which helps us maintain police service during unexpected events, like this fire.”

Area residents requiring services like criminal record checks are asked to visit the Swift Current Rural RCMP detachment.