The St. George Anglican Church was burned to the ground on Saturday after standing in Loon Lake for 85 years. (Submitted)

By Logan Lehmann

Church fire

Loon Lake loses St. George Anglican Church in early morning fire

Sep 28, 2024 | 4:44 PM

Residents in the town of Loon Lake are grieving following a fire that destroyed a longstanding church in the community.

Built in 1939, the St. George Anglican Church went up in flames around 5:00 a.m. Saturday. Everything inside the building burned, with the only remnants of the church being a weathered sign out in front of where the entrance used to be.

All that remains of the charred church. (Facebook)

Local residents took to social media to share photos of the church, and the countless memories associated. However, some residents expressed their frustration and believe the fire was set deliberately in relation to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Monday, which wouldn’t be the first incident of its kind.

Back in 2021, the Polish Roman Catholic Church near Redberry Lake was torched during a series of church burnings and vandalism across Canada that followed the discoveries of suspected unmarked graves at the sites of several former residential schools. The same thing happened the following year at Our Lady of the Smile Church on Waterhen Lake First Nation.

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Despite the rumours and theories swirling in the community, Loon Lake RCMP have not confirmed or released any information regarding their investigation into the blaze, or as to how it started.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com