WESTLOCK – RCMP have deemed the Jan. 31 overnight blaze that gutted the historic Old Timers Cabin “suspicious” and are now looking for leads and suspects.
Westlock RCMP Cpl. Riley Sutherland said Feb. 2 that working alongside the Westlock Fire Department in parallel investigations, they’ve determined the Tuesday-morning fire originated outside of the building located on the Westlock Agricultural Society Grounds on the east side of town around 2:30 a.m. before witnesses called it in around 4 a.m.
Fire chief Stuart Koflick said Jan. 31 that when they arrived on scene smoke was billowing from the structure and with the help of Westlock County fire crews, they were able to get it under control within an hour. The building is only open to the public during the annual ag fair, last held in August 2022, and was not connected to power.
“The fire is suspicious in nature. It doesn’t look like entry to the building was gained to set the fire, so we believe it was set outside the building,” said Sutherland. “From what we’ve seen, it doesn’t look like someone was living inside it … it wasn’t locked from the inside and there was no damage to the locking mechanism. If anyone has seen anything we would love for them to contact us.”
Until they’re able to track down a suspect, Sutherland said they won’t know if the fire was set on purpose or was purely accidental, adding they don’t believe it is connected to a blaze that consumed a truck on 107th Street Jan. 19. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Westlock RCMP at 780-349-4492 ext. 2, or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com or by using the "P3 Tips" app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store
“We don’t think the building spontaneously caught fire, but whether it was an accidental start or an intentional start we don’t know and we need to determine that,” said Sutherland.
Sadness and disgust on loss of cabin
Members of the former Westlock and District Oldtimers’ Association expressed both sadness and disgust when they learned of the fire that tore through the building.
The association, which began in 2019 originally as “The Pioneer Association” was changed to the “Westlock and District Old Timers Association in 1938.
“The purpose of the association was to provide a meeting place to honour the settlers each year, visit, and reminisce about good times and get to know the people in the community and area better. There was always food involved — so there was a banquet,” notes an article written by secretary Harriett Pollard Wiedrick in August 2019.
She notes too, “The annual banquet continued to be an important event (each fall), with life memberships given out to anyone 70 years old who have lived in the district for a considerable time; also anyone celebrating 80, 90 or 100 year old birthdays; (and) 50, 60, 70 (year) wedding anniversaries.”
Unfortunately, due to a number of circumstances, the organization shuttered in 2021 after 102 years. Still, some of those former members continued to open the doors of the Old Timers Cabin as a place to relax, visit, and enjoy a cup of coffee and goodies during the Westlock Agricultural Fair in August.
But some also noted their concerns for the building. They said a couple of years, there was major cleanup to be done, as the place had been broken into and used perhaps as a residence. One noted whoever had been there had even used the waste basket for a toilet.
Wiedrick also wrote, The Old Timers Cabin “was a building originally used as a food booth at the fair grounds. About 1951, a group of volunteers renovated it and made a cabin out of it and sat by (just north of the now demolished) arena. Then in 2011 it had to be moved, so was moved over to the Westlock Agriculture Fair Grounds, just east of the ag barn.”
Again, this was all done by volunteers. The Westlock and District Old Timers Association maintain it, open it up two afternoons at the Westlock and District Agriculture Fall Fair where people can come in, visit, relax, have a cookie, a cup of tea or coffee in a china cup and saucer.”
What the future holds for the cabin is uncertain — from all appearances, it is extremely doubtful it could be rebuilt. As for insurance, ag society president Carl Larsen said Feb. 2 it has still not been determined who holds the insurance on the building.
• With files from Les Dunford
