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A man from the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation has been charged with arson in connection with a church fire in the Saskatchewan village of Loon Lake.
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Shandon Chief, 25, was arrested on Dec. 7, Loon Lake RCMP confirmed in a news release issued on Tuesday.
He is accused of starting a fire that destroyed St. George’s Anglican Church on Sept. 28.
Chief is also charged with breaching a conditional sentence order. He appeared in Meadow Lake provincial court on Monday, according to RCMP.
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The church secretary, George Rothenburger, said he could see flames towering hundreds of feet into the air from the church after getting a call around 5 a.m. He said the roof had collapsed by the time he got to the building, and the bell tower soon fell too.
“There was no wind. So thank goodness it was safe for the rest of the town.”
RCMP said no one was inside the church at the time of the fire.
Built in 1938, the church still held services once a month, Rothenburger said.
— with Canadian Press files
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