Fire hits Abram Village arena

The Evangeline Community Centre in Abram Village, P.E.I., went up in flames at around 9 a.m. on Sunday.

About 50 firefighters from Summerside, Wellington, Miscouche and Tyne Valley battled the flames and the high winds.

"We tried to fight our way up to the top in the left hand corner as you can see but the heat was too much, the smoke was too much," said Cory Desroche, a firefighter with the Miscouche detachment.

"So at that point we just had to pull out because the wind was pushing the fire through the top front of the building and after that it was lost and there wasn't much we could do."

Flames were shooting out of the arena, which is 30 kilometres northwest of Summerside, on Sunday afternoon and people around the blaze had to wear masks because ofthe thick smoke.

A wall was bulldozed on Sunday afternoon, showing the complete destruction of the community's rink.

A nearby seniors home was evacuated and firefighters were working to make sure the fire did not spread to the building.

Firefighters werealso trying to save a storage building behind the arena, whichholds antiques owned by the community.

Roughly 250 people gathered to watch the fire at one point.

Many community members called the loss of the arena devastating. There is already talk among people watching the blaze about rebuilding the facility.

Karen Gallant, who lives a just a few houses away from where the rink once stood, said the building was the heart of the community.

"It is a lot of great memories that are gone in there. The sad part is that there are so many generations of memories in there," Gallant said.

"When you have my father that is watching his grandkids in there three or four times a week. It is just a whole community tragedy."

Gallant's husband Pierre said earlier on Sunday that the entire community was covered in a thick haze of smoke.

"The rink is pretty well all gone," Gallant said.

"There is still a lot of smoke, the firemen are on top of the roof. There are firemen from everywhere."

Gallant said someone who works at the rink was inside the buildingSunday morning setting up for Monday night bingo.

Gallant said that person reported he could smell smoke but couldn't see flames so he called 911.

Flamesbroke out later in the morning. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

The Abram Village school principal opened the school's cafeteria on Sunday afternoon in order to feed the firefighters battling the blaze.