Comox RCMP and the Cumberland Volunteer Fire Department are probing a Wednesday-night blaze that levelled an old barn and home and burned trees in Coal Creek Historic Park.
The fire started in the barn, with crews called at 6:33 p.m.
“It was a huge, old barn,” said Fire Chief Mike Williamson. “It was two storeys and it was about 75 feet [23 metres] long. Right behind was huge trees.”
The fire spread to the trees, where flames shot up about 30 metres.
Flames then reached the home, which was unoccupied, although there were two people at the scene when firefighters arrived. One said his friend was in the house.
“We did several searches of the house and we couldn’t find anybody. We did three or four searches.”
The friend was found safe about an hour later.
“So we had the barn, the old house and the park on fire,” Williamson said. “And the most valuable part of everything was the park, of course.
“We had [the fire] knocked down and under control within 30 minutes, probably less.”
One concern was a number of propane canisters next to the barn, which blew up during the fire.
“There were bangs going off, one big one,” Williamson said.
Four old vehicles at the barn also burned.
The property, which is owned by the Village of Cumberland, is a no-trespassing zone, Williamson said.
The fire department already had a fire plan in place as a precaution, he said.
The B.C. Wildfire Service was on hand to assist in checking the park, and found several hot spots flaring up, Williamson said.
He said a man and his family had lived for decades at the site, and when he died, the village acquired the property.
According to the Village of Cumberland’s website, the 42-hectare parcel of land, including the “No.1 Japanese Town” and Chinatown, was gifted to the Village of Cumberland in 2002.
It was named Perseverance Creek Historic Park, dedicated to the memory of early Chinese and Japanese settlers who lived and worked there.
In 2008, the name of the park was changed to Coal Creek Historic Park, the name the creek was known by until 1947.
