Historic property destroyed by fire in Cumberland, B.C.
Fire crews had their hands full during a chaotic fire scene at a community park in Cumberland Wednesday night. The blaze resulted in a destroyed barn, a handful of torched vehicles, a heavily damaged house and several scorched trees.
Crews were called to the Perseverance Creek Historic Park at 6:33 p.m. for a brush fire, which was upgraded to a structure fire.
“When we arrived there were flames shooting 100 feet up the trees. This huge barn was still intact but it was just about ready to cave in and the radiant heat caught the house on fire next to it,” said Chief Mike Williamson of Cumberland Fire Rescue.
He said there were two young people on scene when they arrived.
“When we arrived one young guy told us there was another young guy in the house so the deputy chief took the house fire and I worked on the barn fire and the bush fire so we had to split our crew."
The first individual was taken away by RCMP as crews searched the home for the second one.
“We did a primary, secondary and even a third search to make sure. We still didn’t have any idea where the person was until we found out he was fine and safe,” Williamson said.
The fire began in a barn on the property locals know as the “Souther Farm,” which was developed in 1960-61 and previous to that “John Henry Brown’s Cabin” which was built in the 1930s.
The fire spread into the home which was unoccupied. The property is currently owned by the Village of Cumberland and was in a no-trespassing area.
Cumberland’s fire crew was assisted by the Courtenay Fire Department and a four-person crew from the Coastal Fire Service.
There were immediate concerns about the fire spreading into the nearby forest.
“The flames were 100 feet up the trees behind the barn and the embers were going a couple of hundred feet into the forest," Williamson said. "BC Wildfire were here so we sent them into the forest to do checks for embers and small burns, they found quite a few of them actually, while we concentrated on the house and stopping this barn."
Battling the fire was made more difficult because of the home’s location at the end of a long driveway and bridge, which couldn’t be crossed by vehicles.
“Very difficult to get in here because there’s no fire hydrants. It’s about 300 feet is as close as you could get the fire truck," he said.
There were other complications in fighting the flames.
“The barn is about 75 feet long. There’s about three or four vehicles at the end of it. There were gas cans and propane tanks going off and it was fully involved and not much to save in that but we were more concerned about the forest,” Williamson said.
Cumberland Mayor Leslie Baird says the village purchased the property last year and the home was to be demolished. It is located on a historically significant area of the village, positioned between what was Chinatown on one side and a Japanese settlement on the other.
“We were just watching it and making sure there were no issues with it and we were making plans on what we were going to do and how we were going to do it,” Baird said.
“I actually was in it not long ago to see what it looked like. If you looked at it from up on the hill it looked amazing and we wanted to keep it but it was far beyond repair," she said.
Smoke from the fire was visible throughout Cumberland and drew spectators, including Rick Olsen who was friends with the home’s previous owners.
“It’s definitely sad to see it go, it’s a great little place. It’s one of these rambling old houses that was built on Depression money so there’s about 50 different add-ons to it,” Olsen said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.