Historic Cumberland building goes up in flames

Firefighters in Cumberland worked quickly to knock down a fire in a historic building on Sunday night.

The building, which houses the Dodge City Cycles bike shop and the Riding Fool hostel, is located at Dunsmuir Avenue and Second Street.

Chief Mike Williamson with Cumberland Fire said it appears the fire started in the bike shop and grew quickly.

“It created a lot of smoke and we evacuated all the people out of there,” he said.

“This building is sort of several buildings joined together, so it’s hard getting at it. It’s got tin over duroids and stuff like that on the roof, so it’s a lot of work getting at the small pockets of heat.”

Williamson said the fire is under control and crews remained on scene putting out hot spots.

He said they were alerted to the fire when people heard the alarms ringing and when they realized the fire was growing, they called in Courtenay firefighters to help.

Williamson said one firefighter was injured when they fell on the staircase and they believe he may have dislocated his shoulder.

Shasta Spalding was in the building next door and heard screaming and banging from people inside and outside the building.

“I’ve never seen this ever happen in Cumberland before … I’ve been in the hostel and it’s so beautiful in there. Hopefully it’s not damaged.”

According to TripAdvisor , the building dates back to 1895 and was originally the village hardware store before being converted.