A historic hotel has been completely destroyed after an overnight fire in Alliance, Alberta.
The Commercial hotel was the oldest building on the village’s main street.
Three fire departments responded to the call, which came in around 2:30 Sunday morning.
"We realized at the time it was already too late to save the building so we went straight to saving the local bank and the town office,” “volunteer fire chief Carl Cameron said.
“There was nobody in the building thank God,” he added.
Several hot spots were still burning on Sunday afternoon.
Resident Jacqui Cameron says everyone in town has a connection to the building.
"They would just gather after work for a beer and head home and just visit and discuss their day,” she told CTV News.
This is the second big loss for the community.
In January 2011 the roof on the village arena collapsed, destroying that building.
The hotel building was originally built in 1916 and served as the town grocery store.
It underwent three renovations over the years.
“The upstairs housed the first school,” Mayor Muriel Fankhanel said.
“It housed the first telephone exchange.”
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
Alliance is about 200 km east of Edmonton.
With files from Michelle Gerwing
