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Dallas Hotel fire may have been deliberate

The all-day fire that destroyed the Dallas Hotel on July 18 is being treated as “suspicious” by the Barrhead RCMP and the Barrhead Fire Department, according to fire chief John Whittaker. At approximately 8:35 a.m.
Cover Shot
Fire trucks from Barrhead and nearby communities lined Highway 33 in front of the Dallas Hotel on July 18 as firefighters spent the day trying to control a blaze at the abandoned building. Initially, the call about the fire came in just after 8:30 a.m., but it continued burning for many hours.

The all-day fire that destroyed the Dallas Hotel on July 18 is being treated as “suspicious” by the Barrhead RCMP and the Barrhead Fire Department, according to fire chief John Whittaker.

At approximately 8:35 a.m., the fire department received a call about a fire at the abandoned hotel, which is located next to the Roxy Theatre along Highway 33.

Firefighters ended up spending the entire day on scene, requesting assistance from nearby communities and ultimately bringing in a pair of excavators to completely demolish the building.

Whittaker said local firefighters had expected to deal with a fire at the Dallas Hotel at some point, as the building has been a prime spot for squatters since it was boarded up in 2015.

“We have been dealing with a transient population coming in and out of that property for the last year or so, so this wasn’t really a surprise to us,” he said.

What’s unusual about the fire is that it seemingly started directly in the middle of the structure and spreads throughout the building, Whittaker said.

As well, he said there are multiple reports of someone leaving the hotel shortly after a loud explosion. (Some individuals commenting on the Barrhead Leader’s Facebook page also reported such a noise.)

“The investigation is still ongoing, but it is deemed suspicious at the time,” he said.

All-day fire

Whittaker said the Dallas Hotel was originally constructed in 1957. It remained a popular bar and hangout until the hotel and Guang Zhou Restaurant were shut down in 2015 due to numerous fire code violations. Six residents were relocated.

The age of the building and the additional rooms that had been constructed inside complicated the task of fighting this fire.

Whittaker indicated the ceiling of the second floor was constructed with multiple layers of wood, plaster and fire-rated drywall. “We literally had about almost a foot of material to cut through,” he said.

Whittaker said to effectively fight the fire, firefighters would have had to either have to cut through the roofing on top of the building or use chainsaws to cut from the bottom.

Neither option was considered practical or safe for firefighters. Once a search of the building was done to ensure there was no one inside, firefighters focused on preventing the spread of the fire to the nearby buildings.

“I’m not willing to risk any lives in order to save a piece of property (that is) dilapidated and abandoned,” Whittaker said.

In any case, this is why firefighters were on site for most of the day and had to call in assistance from three separate departments, including Westlock and Fort Assiniboine.

“We didn’t need their equipment; we needed the people,” said Whittaker, adding that only two of their three fire trucks were actually working.

One piece of equipment that was of great assistance in fighting the fire was Tower 6, the raised bucket. Whittaker noted the town and county had purchased that piece of equipment two years ago.

“I honestly believe that without that piece of equipment, we would have lost the (Roxy) Theatre, and we would have lost the restaurant on the other side as well,” he said.

“That piece of equipment was working hard. We actually had to call in the county public works to bring in more fuel, because it needed more fuel throughout the day.”

Eventually, Thomas Trenching brought in a couple of excavators to completely demolish the building. They started around 5 p.m. and had the building reduced to a pile of rubble by about 9 p.m.

“They do a lot of work for us, because we know their skillset and they know our job,” he said.

It is worth noting that the owner of the Roxy Theatre was evacuated as a precaution, as was Laura’s Steakhouse. Stephani Motors ended up shutting down for a day due to the smoke.

Whittaker said firefighters went to Stephani Motors and the theatre the next day with fans to help air out the smell.

Online, some Barrhead residents have speculated the fire was the result of a meth lab explosion. However, Whittaker dismissed that theory.

“It could have been … a magnitude of things, but I can tell you with 100 per cent certainty that there was no meth lab,” he said.

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