Fire destroys Cote First Nation home

COTE FIRST NATION — A single-storey wood-frame house at Cote First Nation was destroyed by fire early June 26.

Kamsack RCMP contacted the Kamsack fire department at 2:53 a.m., saying flames were seen coming out of a house at Cote, located just off Highway 8 about five kilometres north of Kamsack, said Ken Thompson, fire chief.

The brigade arrived about 10 minutes later to find the house fully engulfed in fire, Thompson said. No occupants were in the house and no cause of the fire has yet been determined.

The house is a complete loss, he said. Seven members of the fire brigade were at the scene for about three hours.

Members of the brigade cooked and served breakfast on June 21 during the Spring into Summer fair at Kamsack, and Thompson said that cold weather that morning had dampened the enthusiasm for the event.

“But, we made our money back from the expenses that we had and probably made about $180,” he said. “I guess it could have been better.”

A draw in the fire department’s gas and groceries raffle was made at the Fire Hall on June 23, when the name of Quinton Unick of Canora was drawn as the first-place winner of $3,000 worth of gasoline or groceries from a Federated Co-op outlet, Thompson said. Murray Peterson of Kamsack won the second-place prize of $1,500 worth of gasoline or groceries from the Co-op, while Gordon Craig of Kamsack won the third prize of $500 worth of Co-op gasoline or groceries.