The 105-year-old Quamichan Inn has been destroyed by fire.
The Tudor-style building at 1478 Maple Bay Rd. in Duncan, which housed a restaurant and a bed-and-breakfast, was gutted by a fire overnight Friday.
“I noticed a few flames on the roof, and ran inside, called 911,” Quamichan Inn staff member Kristi Jones told CHEK News. “We got the customers and the room guests out. And five minutes later the place was engulfed in flames. Pretty devastating.”
Maple Bay deputy fire chief Kelly Paddle said the inn was fully engulfed by flames shortly after the department arrived at 11:20 p.m. Friday.
Forty firefighters from Maple Bay and North Cowichan’s south end fire hall battled the blaze. Paddle said the fire was extinguished at 6 a.m. Saturday.
“The fire was in the roof, and it was completely engulfed 15 to 20 minutes later,” he said, noting the old timber and open-frame construction contributed to the speed with which the fire spread.
“No one was going inside due to the hazards of falling debris.”
There is little left of the building, as the fire department had to bring in an excavator to expose final hot spots Saturday morning, he said.
“It’s a big loss,” Paddle said. “That place has been around a long time and a lot of people have had their weddings and anniversaries celebrated there. It’s been a very important place to the community.”
Paddle said the cause of the blaze is under investigation, but it does not appear to be suspicious.
Julie Scurr, president of the Duncan-Cowichan Chamber of Commerce, called the loss “horrendous.”
“It was a B&B, so that affects the accommodations sector — there’s a great loss in that regard because we are so short in that area,” she said.
“My understanding is it’s a complete loss, and being a historic building, it’s not going to be something easily rebuilt.”
The inn, built in 1911 as a private home, was converted into a country inn after Archie and Sheila Owen bought it in 1969. It is now owned by a group of local businessmen.
