A building on the former Somass Sawmill site in Port Alberni has been destroyed after an early morning fire.
Heavy smoke billowed above Port Alberni on the morning of Sunday, Aug. 18, drawing crowds of onlookers to Harbour Road to watch as one building burned down and firefighters worked to save another.
The Port Alberni Fire Department was called out to the structure fire at 8:37 a.m. By the time firefighters arrived on scene, said PAFD Deputy Chief Travis Cross, the structure was already fully involved and not able to be saved.
Because of the size of the building, crews from Beaver Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Cherry Creek Volunteer Fire Department and Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department also responded. Firefighters established a water line and started a "defensive" response to protect other structures from catching fire, said Cross.
"It was too unsafe for us to get inside," said Cross. "It had to burn to the point of collapse — that was safer for our members."
The mill has been closed for several years and the City of Port Alberni-owned site has been undergoing deconstruction. The city has partnered with Matthews West Developments Ltd. for the redevelopment of the site, and developers had previously stated that they wanted to retain this particular building rather than demolish it. Cross confirmed that no work was being done on this building at the time of the fire.
As of Sunday afternoon, the cause of the fire was unknown, although Cross said it is being treated as suspicious. It's unknown if anyone was in the structure at the time of the fire.
This is not the first suspicious fire that has started on the Somass mill site. A small fire had to be extinguished back in August 2023, and another larger fire drew a response from all four Alberni Valley fire departments back in October 2023. Although the site is secured, Cross said people have previously breached the security fence to access the site.
Contractors from Tilley's Trucking and Excavating were on hand Sunday afternoon to remove some of the collapsed structure so that firefighters could put out hot spots. Cross said he expected crews to stay on scene for a couple hours to ensure the smouldering debris was fully extinguished.
"It was actually quite windy today, which made things difficult," he said. "Then we had a downpour, which was somewhat helpful."
Although Port Alberni saw some rain on Sunday, Cross said it was "not even close" to enough rain to eliminate the fire risk in the area after a hot and dry summer. In addition, the region saw some thunder and lightning early Sunday morning, which can often lead to new fires.
