A fire near Prospect Lake that engulfed a cabin is currently under investigation, according to the Saanich Fire Department.
Saanich Fire received a 9-1-1 call at approximately 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning for a fire in the 4300 block of Prospect Lake Rd.
Crews responding to the scene brought a water tender vehicle as the property did not have easy access to a fire hydrant.
Capt. Rob Jones said that crews arrived to find a 20 foot by 20 foot cabin on the property in flames. Jones says the cabin was “fully involved” by the time the crew was on scene.
Jones said that the cabin was “essentially destroyed,” but that no injuries were reported from the incident.
Woody Thomson, one of the owners of the property, says the cabin was part of an old hunting lodge. “This is the old Dumbleton hunting lodge,” said Thomson. “We’re trying to get heritage status for it.”
Thomson said the cabin was a bunkhouse, “essentially an external bedroom” for the lodge. “It’s sad to see it go,” said Thomson. “I doubt if we’ll rebuild it, we might. But it won’t look anything like that.”
According to Thomson the property is about 116 years old, and his family has lived at the lodge since 1916.
Thomson said the fire moved through the cabin quickly. “It was all over before they could even get any water to it. I woke up this morning about 4 o’clock, there was just flames.”
Two people were living the cabin, which Thomson said he and his co-owners rented out seasonally in the winter. He added that the occupants exited the cabin easily and quickly, but they lost a significant amount of personal belongings to the blaze.
“My immediate plan is to talk to the neighbours, see if we can’t do a whip-up,” said Thomson. “Get a bit of a GoFundMe type of thing, give ’em something to get started on again. I think she’s pretty shaken up.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Tim Ford
