The remains of the former SaskTel building in Spiritwood. (submitted photo/ SaskTel)

By Nigel Maxwell

Service disruptions

Temporary service solution en-route, says SaskTel spokesperson following weekend fire

Aug 24, 2020 | 11:50 AM

Editor’s note: This story has been amended to reflect a 4:30p.m. update from SaskTel.

The cause of a weekend fire in Spiritwood remains under investigation, meanwhile service is slowly being restored for hundreds of SaskTel customers.

Early Sunday morning, the community’s SaskTel building was consumed by fire, and as a result all local landline, internet, and cell services were lost for Spiritwood. Areas north to Chitek, south to Rabbit Lake, and east to Debden also had service disruptions. The lack of service impeded any ability to call 911.

Overnight on Sunday, SaskTel was able to construct a temporary service through Cellular on Wheels (COW) and services were restored for Spiritwood and the immediate surrounding area. SaskTel spokesperson Michelle Englot told paNOW the COW is more commonly used to augment SaskTel’s capacity for large events.

“However they also come in handy for emergency services when we have a situation like this,” she said.

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A view of the building prior to Sunday’s fire. (submitted photo/SaskTel)

Englot explained the range of the COW is not as widespread as a regular tower, and only covers the vicinity of Spirtwood and the immediate surrounding area. So as of Monday morning, the communities and areas of Mildred, Chitek Lake, Leoville, Shell Lake, Witchekan Lake, Rabbit Lake, Belbutte were still without service. Englot reassured paNOW the Crown Corporation was working closely with the RCMP in the area. In a statement late Monday afternoon, she explained further that SaskTel crews were on site, working to restore cellular services for the remaining sites in the area.

“We do have a new building enroute and we are working to restore our transport and core equipment that was damaged in the fire. Our next priority is getting cellular service operational and we will have crews working overnight to restore cellular service as quickly as possible,” she said.

“We apologize for any inconvenience and again remind people in the area to physically contact emergency service providers in the town of Spiritwood if they know of anyone who requires emergency services.”

SaskTel asks cellular services be used for emergency voice calls at this time.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell