RCMP charge 2 with arson after fire rips through historic church in northern Alberta

A 121-year-old church is likely damaged beyond repair after a suspicious fire Monday destroyed century-old artwork and a longstanding gathering place for a northern Alberta community.

The walls of St. Bernard Catholic Church in Grouard, Alta., are still standing, but officials say it's likely the building, which is a provincial historical site, isn't salvageable.

The hamlet about 400 kilometres northwest of Edmonton is home to about 160residents, according to Statistics Canada, and borders the Kapawe'no First Nation.

Police began investigating the fire as suspicious. On Tuesday evening,RCMP charged two people with arson, as well as with break and enter to commit theft, aspokesperson said.

St. Bernard is the latest in a series of suspicious fires and arsons that have damaged and destroyed churches across Alberta in recent years.

"Everything was damaged. Everything," St. Bernard's parish priest Father Bernard Akum said Tuesday.

Akum said they've tried to salvage what they could from the building, including the tabernacle,some vestments, books and crucifixes.

Big Lakes County fire crews spent six hours fighting the fire, first from the exterior and, when they were able, from the inside, fire Chief Jason Cottingham said Tuesday.

Cottingham said crews arrived on scene Monday afternoon within about five minutes of being called about the fire, and that it seemed the blaze had been growing inside the structure for some time.

At one point,firefightersran out of water supply in Grouard and had to start shuttling water over from Lesser Slave Lake, Cottingham said.

The height of the cathedral ceiling meant crews had to attack the blaze from above before getting inside the church to put out the rest of the fire, hesaid.

WATCH | Church in rural Alberta badly damaged by fire:

Church in rural Alberta badly damaged by fire

1 year ago

Duration 0:25

Video shows flames damaging the St. Bernard Catholic Church in Grouard, Alta.

"It was a very beautiful church inside. Unfortunately, the murals [are] gone. Most of the roof structure is just a skeleton of itself," he said, adding that they helped salvage the church bell and other artifacts.

The Roman Catholic Church operated aresidential schoolin Grouard from1894 until 1961. Earlier this year, 169 potential grave sites were identified during a ground-penetrating radar search of the area near the former residential school.

Catholic Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan Monsignor Charles Lavoie said much of the church's original design,including paintings by missionary Bishop mile Grouard,had been preserved over the years.

"He had hand-painted three murals at the front of the church behind the main altar which were still there up until yesterday," Lavoie said in an interview Tuesday.

Over the past few years, the church was repainted and windows and doors were replaced. Lavoie said there were plans underway to renew the church's interior.

"We will certainly be rebuilding something there because it's still an active community," he said, adding that the church is still waiting on more information from its insurance company.

He said 30 to 75 people typically attend Sunday services at the church, and that for now mass will be held at Northern Lakes College in Slave Lake.

Locals share memories

As videos and pictures of the fire spread on social media, the news reached formerGrouard residents like Rocky Courtorielle.

"It's a tragedy all the way around because there's so much, so many memories attached to that that building," he said.

Courtorielle lives in British Columbia, but runs a Grouard community Facebook page and stays in touch with family back home. He said that while the church was the site of events like baptisms and weddings, it was more than a church.

He said there wasn't a lot for young people to do growing up in Grouard, but he and other kids would sit on the church steps and listen to music.

"Just a safe place to hang out. No adults, just us kids, watching the sunset," he said.

Pearl Auger said her first memories of the church are attending mass with her grandmother. Auger lives in Atikameg, Alta., now, but said the Grouard church has hosted many of her family's milestone events over the years.

She said she's always been drawn to the church's design, and is saddened that it's gone.

"It was very intriguing. Sometimes during mass I would just look at the architecture and the paintings on the ceiling, and I would think, 'How can we preserve this?'"