The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Cranberry Portage was dealt a blow over the weekend when flames consumed the community's lone gas station and convenience store. Fire broke out at Gas Trax shortly before 7 a.m. Saturday, turning the popular business into a smouldering pile of charred rubble. "It's a big loss to this community," said Bill Taylor, principal of the local high school, Frontier Collegiate. The fire leaves Fidler's Service Station, located 16 kilometres south of the town, as the nearest place to gas up. Although there is a local grocery store that carries many of the same products, Gas Trax was also the only convenience store in the community of just over 600 people. "It affects us a great deal. It was our only gas station," said resident Martin Oulette. "It was also a convenience store, and they carried everything from fishing tackle to engine oil. It will be missed, that's for sure." Oulette sees the loss of the business having an impact on people throughout the region, many of whom used to fill up at Gas Trax on their way to either Flin Flon or The Pas. "Their gas prices were very competitive, so there are a lot of people who were filling up from out of town who will be affected also," he said. The cause of the fire, doused by members of the Cranberry Portage Volunteer Fire Department, remains under investigation. The fire did not affect either of the two above ground fuel tanks at the station, including one that sat just a few feet away. Cranberry Portage RCMP said that passing motorists noticed the flames and stopped to help the lone occupant of the apartment above the station to safety. The occupant was transported to the Flin Flon General Hospital, though police did not provide any other details in a press release. One witness said the smoke was visible from "many blocks away." With small clouds of smoke still emitting from the rubble yesterday, a number of residents were seen walking to the site to survey the damage. "It's so sad," said one woman.
