A massive fire destroyed an empty building on the Trans-Canada Highway in Mill Bay, closing the route in both directions for hours during a busy day on Friday.
The Mill Bay Fire Department confirmed at about 12:30 p.m.
Witnesses in the area passing by saw heavy smoke coming out of the structure as firefighters arrived. Flames could be seen firing from the roof of the building.
The video shows flames firing from the roof of Pioneer Square to Mill Bay. Drive BC says southbound TCH closed without estimating reopening due to fire. pic.twitter.com/uszAyuVCEZ
– CHEK News (@CHEK_News) May 27, 2022
After initially closing the southbound lanes of the freeway, Emcon Services said around 2 p.m., both northbound and southbound lanes were closed, essentially closing the route connecting the south with the center of Vancouver Island.
Drive BC confirmed around 6:37 p.m. that lanes had reopened in a northerly and southbound direction, while Shawnigan Lake-Mill Bay Road remained closed between the highway and Barry Road. Drivers were told to expect major delays.
Drivers in the area said CHEK News traffic was halting both northbound and southbound on the highway, and many described the surrounding roads as chaotic as they tried to pass.
The Cowichan Valley School District tweeted that some families in the far south of Mill Bay would have to wait for bus delays due to the fire.
This is the third time the building has been set on fire in the last six months. In February, Mill Bay Fire responded to a fire similar to the walled building. Another fire broke out in the building in late November 2021.
“It was very damaged and it really became a point of interest for people to come in and vandalize it even more,” said Mill Bay resident Shari Fujimoto. “We’ve been talking for a long time that it would be nice to destroy it and clean it up and now I guess that’s going to happen.”
The building still appeared to be smoking as crews began the process of demolishing the wreckage on Friday afternoon.
Locals said they were already worried about possible ecological damage after the runoff from the fire went down into a nearby stream which they say is a sensitive habitat for Coho salmon.
CHEK News has contacted the Mill Bay Fire Department and RCMP for more details. It is not known what caused the fire, whether it was injured or whether it was considered suspicious.
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