Massive New West Fire Consumes Landmark Heritage Building

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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A considerably large area of Downtown New Westminster was cordoned off and traffic was averted this morning due to a major fire at a landmark heritage building. Dozens of firefighters convened from three different municipalities to battle the blaze all morning, due to which immense smoke stretched into the sky at Sixth and Columbia.

The EL Lewis building was formerly occupied by the iconic Copp’s Shoes, whereas the completely destroyed building was currently home to a bridal shop, some lawyers’ offices, and a number of antique stores. Eye witnesses report seeing radiating sparks and burning debris shooting skyward, as the three-alarm fire spread to a neighbouring building. Fire Chief, Tim Armstrong, explained the incident revealing that roofers were working at the building yesterday, when “[the fire] started up on the roof. There were propane cylinders… a big explosion. As you can tell by the age of the buildings and the infrastructure down here, the fire got hold pretty quickly.”

Chair of the New Westminster Heritage Commission, Councillor Jaime McEvoy, stated that “we’ve had large fires in New West since the great fire of 1898… This is the worst downtown fire at businesses since the great fire of 1898.” He pointed out that the EL Lewis building was built on the foundation of those destroyed by fire more than a century ago. He alleged that “all of these buildings around here were built with brick and stone so that they would be more fireproof and more solid after the great fire of 1898. [The EL Lewis] building was built in 1904 and it was part of the city’s recovery after the great fire. There’s a sad irony there.”