Electrical fire destroyed Berens River School, chief and council say

Berens River First Nation is still reeling from the loss of its school earlier this week, but the community’s leadership says the fire that destroyed the building was not criminal.

The fire at Berens River School was caused by an electrical issue in a closed crawlspace of the building, Berens River’s chief and council said in a written community update Thursday.

A night guard noticed smoke around 3 a.m. Tuesday, after the fire had already spread to the school’s northeast wing, the update said.

No one was inside when the school caught fire, and no injuries were reported.

The school in Berens River, a community of about 2,300 people roughly 275 kilometres north of Winnipeg, was built in 1968 and had nursery to Grade 9 students and an adult education program, the Frontier School Division said.

About 26 to 27 portable classroom units are now needed to accommodate nearly 400 displaced students and staff, chief and council say, and they’ve been working with the Frontier School Division and Indigenous Services Canada to find the units needed.

The community lost its arena about a year ago, and the site cleared for its new arena will serve as the location for the portable classrooms, with the goal of having them in use by April 2026, the update said.

The school building was valued at around $35 million during a preliminary insurance assessment, the update said.

There’s additional insurance coverage of $1.5 million for education continuity and temporary learning spaces, as well as $2.5 million to replace lost contents inside the school, chief and council said.

The insurance funds are strictly for temporary school operations and for the future construction of the new school, the update said.

But Berens River’s available funds will not meet its short-term needs to help students through the transition, chief and council said.

“As a result, Berens River First Nation staff will begin soliciting external supports, donations, and monetary contributions to help address identified funding gaps,” chief and council wrote in the update.

Plans are underway to find and use available community spaces to deliver classes as soon as possible.

A public meeting will be held Monday afternoon in Berens River for parents and community members to hear updates from a panel of education, leadership and Frontier School Division staff.

The University of Winnipeg’s Wesmen athletics club says it’s setting up a donation bin Friday night at its women’s and men’s volleyball matches at the Duckworth Centre to collect school supplies for Berens River.