A vacant Oak Bay house that was the scene of a suspicious fire on Sunday night has been the source of dozens of complaints to police, fire and municipal officials for the past five years.
Firefighters were called about 10:30 p.m. and upon arrival found the house, at 57 Beach Dr., engulfed in flames. Almost two dozen firefighters from Oak Bay, Saanich and Victoria spent hours dousing the fire.
One Oak Bay firefighter was treated in hospital after suffering smoke inhalation.
The fire is deemed suspicious because the building has no power or natural gas, said Oak Bay Fire Chief Dave Cockle.
Oak Bay police said in a message on Twitter that the site is dangerous, pointing in particular to unstable rock walls.
The house was heavily damaged by a fire in 2013, when it was occupied. A man and a dog escaped without injury. The property has changed hands three times since then.
Over the years, neighbours have called Oak Bay police or the fire department 16 times with complaints about suspicious activity and trespassing in the vacant building, Cockle said.
Fire prevention officers were in touch with the homeowner as recently as last week to ask, again, that the house be secured to prevent trespassing, he said.
Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen acknowledged that the house has been the source of multiple complaints from concerned neighbours.
“There were people who illegally gained access to the building despite the fences and the boarding on the entrances,” Jensen said. There was evidence of people being inside the property, he said, including graffiti on the walls.
“I appreciate and understand the frustrations of the neighbours that this house was left empty for so long,” Jensen said. “Any unoccupied property is of concern to the community, particularly when it’s in a state of disrepair as this one was.”
The Oak Bay Fire Department is seeking an update to the fire bylaw, which would allow the municipality to levy greater fines against a non-compliant owner or forcibly demolish a building that is deemed to be unsafe, Cockle said.
The department is still receiving legal advice and it’s unlikely a bylaw will pass before the end of the year, he said.
Alan Lowe, the architect representing the homeowner, said the homeowner was going back and forth on whether to restore or demolish the property.
The owner finally decided to rebuild and had recently obtained a building permit for renovations, Lowe said.
The owner now has to pay for 24-hour security on site and secure it with fencing, he said. The building will be demolished, Lowe said, but no timeline has been set.
Government records state that the current owner is Jennifer Chun-Yan Mak of Saanich. She has owned it less than a month; the transaction was on May 9.
No sale price is listed.
Prior to that, the property sold Nov. 13, 2014 for $640,000. And before that, it sold on Aug. 15, 2014, also for $640,000.
The sale before that took place in May 2006, when the property changed hands for $1.49 million.
— With files from Carla Wilson
