Jason Reedyk made the two-hour hike up Eagle Pass Mountain on Tuesday expecting a stunning view from the summit’s alpine cabin, but was shocked to find the century-old structure had been destroyed by fire.
Reedyk says it was his first hike to the Eagle Pass Lookout Cabin, which is located in the Shuswap about 25 kilometers west of Revelstoke, B.C. Judging by photos of the cabin that other visitors had recently shared on social media , believes the building burned down. on Monday evening.
He says he’s not sure what caused the fire, but thinks it could have been lightning.
“There [are] just the rock walls and some charred remains,” Reedyk, who is from Vernon, B.C., told CBC’s Daybreak South. “It burned completely, essentially to the ground.”
Originally built in 1922 as a CP Rail fire lookout station, the cabin has long been a popular hiking destination.
In 2016, a group of volunteers began restoring the building after its roof collapsed in the 1960s, pouring $40,000 and hundreds of hours into the project.
In a statement emailed to CBC News, Recreation Sites and Trails BC says it has not yet decided whether to build a new lookout.
The province, which considers the cabin an unauthorized structure, placed a stop-work order on the site in 2017 after volunteers completed reconstruction and fined them $10,000 for continuing the project without any formal authorization from the Ministry of Forests.
Recreation Sites and Trails BC says the Eagle Pass Lookout site has been closed because it is unsafe for public use. (Submitted by Jason Reedyk)
The BC government later held a series of discussions with the District of Sicamous, alpine clubs, local businesses and hikers in 2020 to figure out how best to proceed.
According to a report released by the non-profit Shuswap Trail Association in 2021, Recreation Sites and Trails BC said it could not authorize the volunteer-reconstructed structure because it did not meet the province’s heritage building standards. but it didn’t come. make a final decision on whether to rebuild or maintain the building.
Sicamous Coun. Gord Bushell, who also served as Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club CEO in 2020, joined in the discussion on how to treat the cabin.
He then suggested his company could manage the building, but says the province just acknowledged his suggestion and hasn’t heard back since.
“You don’t need to tell me how slow the government is moving, because I’m a councilman,” Bushell said.
Volunteers atop the reconstructed lookout in 2017. Further work on the cabin was halted when the province issued a stop-work order. (Ren St. Onge)
Bushell says he has visited the Eagle Pass Lookout cabin 15 times and was “pretty devastated” to learn it had been destroyed.
He added that if the province decides to build a new structure at the lookout, it could cost taxpayers more than what the volunteers spent.
Recreation Sites and Trails BC says the Eagle Pass Lookout site has been closed since the fire, but surrounding trails remain open to hikers.
Daybreak South5:35 A Vernon man shares his shock at what he saw when he arrived at Eagle Pass Lookout earlier this week.
A Vernon man shares his shock at what he saw when he arrived at the Eagle Pass lookout earlier this week.