Mounties in British Columbia have concluded there's no evidence that the devastating fire that swept through the community of Lytton more than three years ago was arson.
Police have now ended their investigation into the June 2021 wildfire, saying they could not pinpoint the cause of the blaze that killed two people and wiped out much of the village and part of the First Nation, a day after a Canadian temperature record of 49.6 C was set in Lytton.
A statement from the RCMP on Wednesday said there was "no evidence to suggest the fire was intentionally set by the actions, or inactions, of any individual(s)" and the criminal investigation "has not determined the cause of the fire."
Police said they reviewed the weather conditions around the time, exhaustively searched two "areas of interest" where the fire may have started and interviewed 168 witnesses.
They said investigators collected evidence including 400 videos and photos and reviewed parallel investigations by the BC Coroners Service, BC Wildfire Service, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
RCMP Chief Supt. Brad Haugli said in the statement that the focus of the investigation was on how and why the fire started.
"While we have no single source or cause that can account for the devastating fire, it was not due to a lack of effort. Significant work was done to not only look at establishing and confirming what did happen, but to eliminate what didn’t happen," he said.
"We remain committed to the community and the important need to support all those impacted, while we also join in the collective efforts to rebuild."
When Lytton First Nation elder George Brown and his wife fled their home during the fire, they didn't have time to pack, losing almost everything to the flames.
He said he was disappointed by the result of the investigation.
“I’m certainly not happy with it. But what can I do?” asked 80-year-old Brown, who now lives with his wife in a trailer in Lytton.
He said the “shock is over” and now the couple is trying to put the past behind them.
“We can all (be) hollering, bitching and complaining and that’s not going to go anywhere. Like everybody said, it's good that we made it out alive and we're still going on and once you talk to people over and over about the loss, you kind of get used to it."
Brown said he and his wife hoped to rebuild their home and return to it in the next few years.
Police said their findings have been shared with the Village of Lytton, the Lytton First Nation and the families of those who died.
They said the work investigating the Lytton fire will help the RCMP should it be required to investigate similar events in the future.
By Ashley Joannou and Nono Shen in Vancouver
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
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