Heavy smoke billowing from a building on the former Somass Sawmill site drew multiple fire departments and a lot of curious onlookers, Saturday night.
The Port Alberni Fire Department received “multiple” 911 calls just before 5:30 p.m. about smoke showing from the mill building in the 3500-block of Harbour Road, PAFD Fire Chief Mike Owens said. The mill building has been closed for several years and the city-owned site has been undergoing deconstruction.
Crews from Port Alberni, Beaver Creek, Cherry Creek and Sproat Lake fire departments responded because of the size of the building, Owens explained. “Heavy smoke and fire was showing from the southwest corner of one of the main structures on site.”
Crews spent several hours dealing with a fire on the main floor and third floor—there is no longer a second floor in the building—measuring approximately 12 metres by 12 metres (40 feet by 40 feet). While there are operational fire hydrants on the site crews secured extra water from a hydrant at Tyee Landing and boosted water pressure in the area to help fight the blaze, he said.
The fire drew numerous curious onlookers who lined the fence bordering the Somass property at Tyee Landing in the early evening.
No injuries were reported and there were no people at the site at the time of the blaze; due to its suspicious nature the RCMP were called in and crews were back at the mill on Sunday to collect evidence, Owens said. Security personnel stayed on scene overnight Saturday to watch for any flare-ups.
Constable Richard Johns said RCMP are still looking into both the Somass mill fire and another structure fire that occurred early Monday, Oct. 16 in the 3400-block of Third Avenue. A City of Port Alberni spokesperson declined to comment on the incident while it was still under investigation.
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