Onlookers gathered throughout the afternoon Easter Sunday to watch fire fighters tackle a suspicious blaze which gutted the largest of three buildings that made up the old, boarded-up Slumber Lodge Motel.
Williams Lake Fire Chief Des Webster said 27 fire fighters with three trucks responded to the fire at 12:47 p.m. and remained on scene eight hours to put out the blaze.
“We received several calls about the fire because the smoke was so visible,” Webster said of the downtown blaze, noting a door facing the back alley was found pried open before fire consumed the building.
“I don’t think we’ll ever determine the cause, there’s just too much damage,” he said.
Though the building was vacant, a police investigation was also conducted which determined that no one was in the structure at the time of the fire, said RCMP Insp. Milo MacDonald.
The property has been the focus of many discussions at city hall in recent years regarding what to do with the derelict buildings.
Last summer, the city issued a demolition order for the motel, located just above the Stampede Grounds, but the owner, Vancouver resident John Carhoun, appealed that decision, saying he wanted to fix up the building.
Council recently extended the demolition order for the buildings on the property until Oct. 14, 2016. The bylaw office confirmed at that time the owner had hired a local electrical company to restore power to all the buildings and that all fire and smoke alarms be installed, things that are required by the demolition order.
The building has been boarded up since June, 2012 after the city made the request.