Firewalls: A fading part of Saskatchewan’s history

Shaunavon loses historic brick firewall WATCH: The century old structure was one of four built in Saskatchewan to protect wooden construction. Morgan Campbell explains.

When the Shaunavon firewall was knocked down in early March, it was the end of an era in the community.

The brick structure was built in 1918, in response to what people in town call “the great fire,” which reportedly destroyed 18 buildings.

It has been standing tall, a staple on Centre Street ever since.

“It wasn’t something that stood out and slapped you in the face and you’d say, ‘oh there’s the firewall!’” said Joanne Gregoire, Director of Culture for the town of Shaunavon. “You kind of had to look for it, until of course, the fire.”

On Remembrance Day weekend 2021, a fire destroyed Gehl’s General Store, but the adjacent firewall stopped the blaze from spreading.

It was a difficult time for Blair and Lucy Gehl, who had spent years restoring the General Store, working hard to get the business running, only to see it go up in flames.

Four months later, the general store had to be demolished, along with the firewall.

“To see the top four or five feet of it in perfect condition but then the rest of it just charred and burnt and weakened,” Blair Gehl said.

“You know the old girl did her job in the end and we are really proud of that,” added Gregoire.

There were other firewalls, like the one in Shaunavon, constructed in towns around Saskatchewan.

Ogema spent $1300 to build its firewall in 1915. Town documents at the Saskatchewan Archives show plans stating it would be 5 and one half feet underground, 16 inches thick, 30 feet high and seventy feet long. A point of pride for the town, until wind gusts above 100 km/hr brought it down in January 2021.

Gregoire saw the landmark as an opportunity to take the past and link it to the future. “Really it’s a sense of place. I think if you know where you come from, you can better determine where you’re going to go,” she said.

Gehl saw the fire and demolition as another example of the resiliency of prairie people. “We’ve got a wonderful community here in Shaunavon and the outpouring of support and love and compassion,” Gehl said. “We are all kind of on the same page. Life goes on.”

Gehl has saved some of the bricks from the old firewall. He said he took a load to the town shop so they can build a smaller version at the wall at the museum.

A reminder of a piece of Saskatchewan history for future generations.

“The firewall in our mind is not gone it’s not dead,” Gregoire said. “We will continue to tell its story.”