Kelowna’s oldest house was damaged by fire and is considered a total loss.
Firefighters responded to multiple emergency calls at 3 a.m. on Wednesday about flames from the municipal Fleming House, built in 1871.
“Unfortunately, the house is a total loss and what remains of it will likely be demolished,” said Derek Edstrom, a city manager, on Wednesday.
The same building was damaged by fire in early July 2018. Following this incident, the city spent about $ 75,000 removing hazardous materials, putting a new roof on the structure, and securing it from unauthorized entry.
“It is truly unfortunate that there was another fire there,” said Don Knox, president of the Central Okanagan Heritage Society. “It’s the oldest house we know in Kelowna, although it hasn’t been used as a home in a long time.”
The log cabin, which is just off Dilworth Drive on the north side of Mill Creek, was not in use, although ideas had long been held that it might be renovated to serve public function. However, the city’s requests for proposals for adaptive reuse of the building were unsuccessful.
“We were happy when the city paid for a new roof after the first fire and took some measures to secure the site,” said Knox. “But it would have been nice if some kind of security had been put in place.
“It’s easy to slag the city, and I don’t mean that, but the fact is that when you own a building, you have a responsibility to protect it as best you can, and I’m not sure that it is in which case it happened. “said Knox.
After the first fire, believed to have been accidentally caused by transients, the city said it was impractical to insure the building because of its condition and its distance from services such as an aqueduct.
There are three buildings on the site – the Fleming House, a flour mill, and a milk barn. The flour mill, which is believed to be the oldest industrial area in Kelowna, and the barn were not damaged in the fire on Wednesday.
Robin Digby, who specializes in restoring old buildings, suggests that the city should at least consider placing solar-powered alarms and cameras to better monitor the remaining buildings.
“There’s no reason the city can’t try anything to make sure these buildings survive,” he said.
