RCMP investigation can't determine cause of 2021 Lytton wildfire
Police say there is no evidence the devastating fire, which resulted in two deaths, was intentionally set
A criminal investigation into a June 2021 fire that all but destroyed the village of Lytton, B.C., was unable to determine what caused the blaze, RCMP said Wednesday.
The fire killed two people and wiped out much of the village and part of the Lytton First Nation after it sparked on June 30, 2021, a day after a Canadian temperature record of 49.6 C was set in Lytton.
A statement from RCMP says they were unable to establish the cause of the fire, and therefore couldn't prove any offence was committed.
The statement also said there is "no evidence to suggest the fire was intentionally set by the actions, or inactions, of any individual(s)."
RCMP say the investigation included a review of weather conditions at the time, a search of areas where the fire may have originated, collection of evidence, nearly 170 witness interviews, and reviews of findings from investigations by the B.C. Coroners Service, B.C. Wildfire Service, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
The TSB findings released in October 2021 found that a train passed through town 18 minutes before the fire was reported, and that the ignition point for the fire was less than two metres from the centre of the CN Rail track west of Lytton's downtown core.
But the report concluded there was no evidence to prove the trains were responsible for the catastrophic fire.
Some Lytton residents said they didn't accept the TSB finding and were disappointed the community was not consulted during the four-month-long investigation.
RCMP say they have shared their findings with the Village of Lytton, the Lytton First Nation and the families of victims.
Chief Supt. Brad Haugli said in the statement that the focus of the investigation was to determine 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."
RCMP say they are not sharing specific details of the evidence in the investigation, as there was a potential for future developments in the case.
Residents disappointed by RCMP findings
Ryan Angus, who lives near Lytton and whose father-in-law was a resident of the village, says he was disappointed by the RCMP report.
"After three years of silence on the issue and they come up with a shoulder shrug, basically. It's not good enough," Angus said.
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 too 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," the elder said. "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."
RCMP said the work investigating the Lytton fire will help, should the force be required to investigate similar events in the future.
"I appreciate and understand that the time it took, and also the conclusion, is not what most are wanting to hear," B.C. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. James Grandy said.
"But this is the totality of the exhaustive work that was done by the investigative team in this case and also outside agencies, subject matter experts, and all the evidence ... that was collected to reach this conclusion."
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With files from Jenifer Norwell, Michelle Ghoussoub and The Canadian Press