Queen’s Hotel fire in 1980 was SFD’S worst tragedy
Livestreamed ceremony Sunday will honour lives of two lost firefighters
Saskatoon’s fire chief remembers the first time he heard about the Queen’s Hotel fire, the single worst tragedy in the fire department’s history.
Morgan Hackl was in his first week of training in 1987 with the Saskatoon Fire Department when the trainer told recruits about the May 31, 1980, fire that killed 47-year-old Victor James Budz, a 17-year veteran, and 29-year-old Dennis Aron Guenter, who had been there for less than two years.
The building was located at the corner of First Avenue and 20th Street East.
“I was very excited to get on the job. I felt I had just accomplished something very incredible. I was honoured to be a part of this great team at SFD, but probably really had never had thought about some of the dangers that could occur throughout my career,” Hackl recalled.
Today, structure fires involving new homes are the most concerning because of how quickly they burn, and because of the chemicals in building materials and items inside the home, some of which may be carcinogenic.
Stories about the fatal hotel fire and the ensuing safety improvements for firefighters in Saskatoon have been passed down from one generation to the next, said Clint Belisky of the Saskatoon firefighters’ union, IAFF Local 80. Newer firefighters learn that out of the tragedy and subsequent inquiry, the air tanks firefighters wear last longer and are much bigger.
“The theme has always been ‘you never forget the lives of members who give their lives,’ ” Belisky said.
Ceremonies to honour Budz and Guenter are planned at two sites concurrently on Sunday evening. One will be at the site where the hotel once stood and where the Scotiabank Theatre now stands. A plaque was unveiled on the north side of the building in a 2016 ceremony.
The second ceremony will take place at the No. 6 firehall.
Restrictions on the size of public gatherings will limit the services to 10 people at each site, but they will be streamed on Facebook so firefighters and members of the public who can’t attend will be able to pay their respects remotely.
Belisky said the service will be short and will include a crew of four firefighters at each site.
Pandemic travel restrictions may mean that Guenter’s son and daughter, who were ages four and eight months when he died, won’t be able to attend since both now live abroad.
Belisky said the union has kept the family up to date on the planned memorial.
Budz’s nephew, Wayne, is now a firefighter in Saskatoon.
The original Queen’s Hotel was built in stages from 1892 to 1912 across from the railway station that was on the west side of First Avenue at 20th Street, city archivist Jeff O’brien said.
Over the years, the five-storey hotel catered to people staying longer-term.
According to a story in the June 2, 1980, edition of The Starphoenix — the paper wasn’t published on June 1 — the fire was located in the sauna and showers area in the basement.
To get to it, firefighters who responded just after 10:50 a.m. that day would have to go through the gymnasium. When a group of them entered the basement through the gym, the fresh oxygen created a backdraft and left the men in total darkness.
The firefighters had no choice but to feel their way out. All were able to escape except for Budz and Guenter. They were wearing masks and were equipped with oxygen tanks that had enough air to last 30 minutes, or 20 minutes under physical stress, the fire chief of the day, Chuck Sebestyen, told The Starphoenix.
“Everything humanly possible was done to save them ... but the difficulty was the largeness of the room (and) the different positions of the gymnasium equipment,” he said.
Budz and Guenter were located and rushed to hospital after noon; Budz died in hospital and Guenter was declared dead upon arrival.
The fire destroyed the basement. Efforts to repair the building uncovered structural issues and it was instead demolished in October 1980.
The theme (at the Saskatoon firefighters’ union) has always been ‘you never forget the lives of members who give their lives.’