'I broke down': Manitoba First Nation mourns loss of local church after fire

People in Ebb and Flow First Nation are reflecting on all of the weddings, baptisms and special memories formed within the walls of the community church after a blaze burned the 64-year-old building to the ground over the weekend.

St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church was destroyed Saturday after a fire engulfed the building, which Kathleen​ Morrisseau, 59, says was built in 1954 after a fire took down the previous community church.

"I broke down, it was hard to see. Even hurts to talk about now," Morrisseau, a lifelong member of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, said through tears Monday. "There's nothing left."

Ebb and Flow fire chief Darcy Houle said his crew of five was called to the church just before 5 a.m. to find flames shooting from windows on the north side of the building.

They tried to enter through the front door, Houle says, but that led to a rush of air flowing in that caused a "flash over" and the blaze spread rapidly. Crews stood down and were forced to let the fire take its course, he added.

"It will impact the community," he said, adding no one was injured.

RCMP and the Office of the Fire Commissioner continue to investigate. Houle said the cause of the fire isn't yet clear.

Place of comfort

The church was a place of comfort for Morrisseau, principal of Ebb and Flow School.

She has been a member of St. Joseph her entire life and sang in the choir.

Her ties to the church reach back to when she was baptized there as a kid, as were her three children and eight grandchildren.

Her granddaughter woke her up Saturday morning after seeing video of the blaze on Facebook.

They went for a drive and found the church reduced to ashes, said Morrisseau.

'I grew up in there'

Church choir member Chelsey Malcolm says with the church went a vibrant mural of Jesus that used to hang over the altar.

"My grandmother always encouraged me to sing in church," she said.

Malcolm, 26, was raised by her devout Catholic grandparents who got married in the church.

"Every time I went I always felt my grandma with me, felt her spirit with me," Malcolm said, adding her grandmother passed away in 2009.

"One of her final wishes was for us to continue to attend church."

Malcolm was an altar girl, received first communion and attended a number of memorable events there, including her cousin's wedding in July.

"I grew up in there," she said. "I had planned to someday get married there but I guess that's no longer going to happen."

Malcolm's first-born was baptized at the church, and she was looking forward to getting her second-born baptized there this fall. 

Marlene Davis, 40, and her 16-year-old daughter were also both baptized as kids in the church, and it's where they received first communion.

"The absence of the church will be felt all year round, but especially at Christmastime," Davis said, adding the beautifully decorated church was packed to capacity every year during midnight mass on Christmas Day.

"[It] was a cozy place to celebrate the birth of Jesus."

Though many are still in the midst of grieving the loss of the church, Morrisseau says all is not lost.

"It's hard to talk about and think about, but I am sure we will rebuild," she said.

In the meantime, Morrisseau said the community will try to find somewhere else locally to gather for weekly services.

Ebb and Flow First Nation is about 185 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

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