An Alberta hotel that was built more than 100 years ago is no more following an early morning fire.

Source: Historic southern Alberta hotel destroyed in early morning fire

The Grange Hotel in Carmangary was built in 1909.  We woke up this morning to word that it had been destroyed by fire overnight.  Unfortunately, even though the fire department in Carmangay is just a block or two away, once these old wooden structures catch fire they are pretty much impossible to stop.  The dry wood is one factor and often these buildings have been renovated multiple times over the years which creates all sorts of voids and hidden spaces which allow fire to spread quickly.  Often there is nothing that can be done other than protecting the exposures and then “surround and drown”.

It seemed appropriate to re-post a link and some photos from our visit to Carmangary back in September of last year.  We didn’t get to go into the hotel (closed due to CoVID) and now we’ll never get the chance.  Remember, no matter how busy you are, stop and take photographs whenever you can because you never know when something is going to disappear from the landscape.  You may never get the chance to “come back later when we have more time.”