{"id":830539,"date":"2026-07-28T03:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T03:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/830539\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T03:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T03:09:11","slug":"shock-and-disbelief-as-morse-sask-rcmp-detachment-burns-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/830539\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Shock and disbelief\u2019 as Morse, Sask., RCMP detachment burns down"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Residents of Morse, Sask., could only watch as their RCMP detachment went down in flames on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

There were moments that was all the members of the Morse Fire Department could do as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think as a community we’re in shock and disbelief of what happened last night,\u201d said Morse Mayor Rocky Penner. \u201cIt’s quite a huge loss for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the town\u2019s fire hydrants failed during the blaze. The fire department had to call on local farmers and Hutterite communities for water.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that there were two [other] fire hydrants that needed repair,\u201d\u00a0Penner said, adding the town has contracted with a Swift Current business and is on a waitlist for repairs.<\/p>\n

“On the fire hydrant that did fail, when we did our maintenance here this spring, they were operational,” he said.<\/p>\n

Penner said that hydrant is now also on their radar.<\/p>\n

\"FilePolice salvaged files from what was left of the Morse RCMP detachment on Monday. (Shawn Mullin\/CBC)<\/p>\n

The possibility of a hydrant failing during a future fire leaves some residents of the community of about 210 residents, about 170 kilometers west of Regina, uneasy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be a massive concern,\u201d said Morse resident Lyle Patenaude. \u201cMorse did upgrades on the well there, but I guess it must not be enough for fighting fires. I’m hoping that they will look into that more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire department said it first responded just after 6 p.m. CST on Sunday. Patenaude received a text from a friend and joined the crowd of onlookers later in the evening.<\/p>\n

\"PoliceRCMP officers watch as the Morse Fire Department tries to contain the fire on Sunday. (Submitted by Lyle Patenaude)<\/p>\n

\u201c[I] walk outside and the police station’s pretty well fully engulfed in flames,\u201d he said. \u201cFire going off the roof there and a whole bunch of fire crews.”<\/p>\n

Mayor Penner said he would like to see the RCMP rebuild in Morse. Patenaude has some concerns if they don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it risks less rural enforcement, which will be sadly missing, of course,\u201d Patenaude said.<\/p>\n

The RCMP said in a news release that there was no one working in the detachment at the time of the fire and no one was injured.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve lost the detachment but this does not change our commitment to keeping the communities in the detachment area safe,\u201d said Insp. Jill McLaren. \u201cSaskatchewan RCMP does regular contingency planning, which helps us maintain police service during unexpected events, like this fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnThe RCMP said no one was in the Morse detachment when it burned. (Shawn Mullin\/CBC)<\/p>\n

While Penner said he is focused on resolving the hydrant issue, he pointed to the support of neighbours as a reminder of what can be accomplished when people come together in a time of need.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s great to see that community show support,\u201d Penner said. \u201cIt helps keep community spirit alive when people step up to the plate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fire investigators with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency started their investigation into the cause on Monday. RCMP said they don\u2019t believe the fire is suspicious. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":830540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-830539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830539","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=830539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/830540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}