It was 1982 when the pictured fire took place – a scene visible from miles away, with flames enveloping the two-storey building which stood at the corner of Sooke Road and Gillespie Road.
It seems almost every week we read of fires, and thank goodness there are many firefighting groups everywhere dedicated to helping. While today there are reciprocal agreements in place, this has not always been the case.
Highway Corner Store, as it was known, began as the home of Aaron Gent early in the 1900s, and in 1924 it became home to Scottish immigrants Keith and Isabella Lorimer and their family. The Lorimers had settled in Alberta, then moved to B.C. to what we called North Sooke where this house stood on 12 cultivated acres, with three horses to do the farm work.
While the Lorimer children attended the one-room North Sooke School, when it came time for high school, it was correspondence courses – school buses were unheard of. When war came in 1939, the four sons all joined up to serve. Son George was lost in the war, and many years later, Lorimer Point on Sooke Basin was named in his memory. Daughter Margaret Lorimer married a Sooke farmer, Wilf Strong.
After the war, son Malcolm became a mining engineer, son Duncan began a teaching career and youngest son Jimmy became a lawyer and cabinet minister in the government of Dave Barrett. Sooke knew Duncan Lorimer well; beyond becoming principal of Victoria High, he supported the Sooke Legion and the Sooke Pipe Band.
Back to the fire, which destroyed what had once been their family home: it was thought to be caused by a faulty propane tank. Cheanuh Marina Fire Chief Burt Charles said, “There was nothing we could do – there was a long way to go to get there.” Metchosin Fire Chief Herman Volk said “We carry 2,600 gallons of water on the three trucks and East Sooke’s old tanker carries 500 gallons. But that didn’t last long.”
“The store is about two miles out of our district – so no trucks could go from Sooke” said Sooke Fire Chief Lorne Fisk, following the policy set by the Board of Trustees.
Today that would not be the case, as there is a Mutual Aid Agreement between the Fire Departments of Sooke, East Sooke, Metchosin and Otter Point.
