Historic sawmill and museum in Nova Scotia destroyed in weekend blaze

A historic sawmill and museum in southwestern Nova Scotia has been destroyed by a weekend fire.

The chief of the Meteghan Fire Department says the volunteer department was alerted to a blaze at the Bangor Sawmill Museum early on Saturday morning.

Kevin Saulnier says the building was already engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, and it took more than four hours to put out the fire.

No one was injured in the blaze, and Saulnier says it’s not yet clear what caused it.

The fire chief says the first mill built on the site was completed in 1877, and the community is saddened by the loss of the historic site.

The Bangor sawmill was closed in the 1980s and restored to become a museum in 2001.

Saulnier says firefighters tried to save as many sawmill artifacts as they could, including antique handsaws, drills and augers, but many pieces and photos were lost to the fire.

“We saved what we could save, but she’s completely destroyed. What was left of the museum, we had to bring it down with the excavator … it was going to collapse,” Saulnier said.