Heartbreak in Dawson City after historical Westminster Hotel burns down<\/p>\n
Published 6:00 pm Sunday, May 17, 2026<\/p>\n
A staple landmark of Dawson City was destroyd by flames on May 17.<\/p>\n
Firefighters were called to a blaze at the historic Westminster Hotel early Sunday morning. Crews battled the fire for hours, as smoke filled the air of Dawson City and residents gathered to watch the destruction.<\/p>\n
Those sensitive to smoke were cautioned to stay indoors and limit outdoor activity.<\/p>\n
Known to locals as \u201cThe Pit\u201d, the Westminster Hotel was built in 1898 and was the gathering place for celebrations, music, and memories to residents, according to Dawson City Mayor Stephen Johnson.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor generations, people have walked through those doors and found community. Some of us worked there. Some of us celebrated there. Some of us filmed there. All of us felt at home there. Losing it feels personal because it is personal,\u201d said Johnson on a Facebook post.<\/p>\n
Dawson City issued a statement on social media, asking residents to stay away from the area. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no known reports of injuries or threats to neighbouring buildings. We recognize this incident is very concerning for many in the community and are so thankful for the efforts of all those responding to this incident,\u201d said the city.<\/p>\n
Visit Dawson City Facebook page, stated the Westminster Hotel was admired for its \u201csloping ceilings, crooked floors and always interesting clientele.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people gathered to watch as the famous facade fell. It\u2019s been a hard day since it feels like the heart of the city was taken from us all. Tears were shed and memories were shared,\u201d said Dawson City resident Shyanne Chulyin Ch\u2019ivaya Beatty.<\/p>\n
However, by 3 p.m. May 17, an excavator was reportedly tearing down the local landmark.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heartbreak in Dawson City after historical Westminster Hotel burns down Published 6:00 pm Sunday, May 17, 2026 A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[244562,49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-676788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-bc-north","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}