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Arson fire at Providence Farm in Duncan quickly extinguished

A small fire in the main building at Providence Farm over the weekend should have no long-term effects on operations

A small fire in the main building at Providence Farm over the weekend should have no long-term effects on operations at the therapeutic community and popular event venue.

“In terms of fires, it was pretty minimal because we caught it right away,” Providence Farm executive director Chris Holt said. “It’s an old, wooden building, so it could have gone up if we hadn’t.”

As it was, the fire early on Saturday morning. was limited to “mainly smoldering and smoke,” Holt said.

Security staff had the flames extinguished before firefighters even arrived, although they did extensive work to make sure it wouldn’t roar to life again.

According to Holt, the fire was intentionally set, and the suspect, who was known to firefighters and Providence Farm staff turned himself in. About $3,000 worth of damage was done by the fire and efforts to put it out, but it should all be taken care of before the farm hosts the Islands Folk Festival this weekend.

“By the end of the week, you won’t even know it had happened,” Holt said.

Holt thanked the South End firefighters and Providence Farm staff for attending to the blaze so quickly.

“We want to remind everybody that this is a community asset,” he said. “We need to take care of this place together.”



Kevin Rothbauer

About the Author: Kevin Rothbauer

Kevin Rothbauer is the sports reporter for the Cowichan Valley Citizen
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