There were no casualties after a temple fire at the Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden near Bethany, Ont. – Peterborough | Globalnews.ca

No one is reported injured after a fire Torn through one of the temples near the Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden bethanyOnt., on Sundays.

Just before 2 p.m., firefighters city ​​of kavartha lakes And Cavan-Monaghan Township Responded to a fire in one of the temples currently under construction.

Franny Galvin-Hines, who lives nearby, was in her home when she first saw smoke coming out of the temple. According to the Canadian Buddhist Association Cham Shan Temple, the temple is made of special wooden interlocking brackets (without nails) imported from China.

“I looked out my window and thought, ‘This doesn’t look right,'” she told Global News Peterborough.

Firefighters spent several hours extinguishing the fire. Kavartha Lakes Fire and Rescue Chief Terry Jones said staff at five stations responded to the fire, which is under Cavan-Monaghan’s jurisdiction.

The 214-hectare property is one of four purchased by the Buddhist Association of Canada’s Cham Shan Temple. The $80 million project proposes four Buddhist temples linked by pilgrimage routes to symbolize the Four Sacred Chinese Mountains. Upon completion, Cham Shan Temple says the project will be the largest single Buddhist complex built outside China.

Wutai Shan is the temple of Manjushri Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva of Great Wisdom. The site opened in 2018 but was closed to visitors due to the pandemic.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Damage could not be estimated.

1:30Construction continues on the Giant Buddha project near Bethania

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