Fire that destroyed Sandy Bay CFS office in 2019 was deliberately set: Manitoba fire commissioner

A fire that destroyed the office of the Sandy Bay Child and Family Services agency two years ago was found to be deliberately set, CBC News has learned.

The Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner investigated after the building located on Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation in south-central Manitoba burned on Dec. 15, 2019.

"The OFC investigation determined the cause of the fire to be incendiary, and a police investigation was launched," a spokesperson for the commissioner told CBC News in an email, with incendiary defined as "deliberately set."

When the fire happened on a Sunday morning in December 2019, the fire commissioner had not immediately determined the cause due to the building's "total destruction," the provincial government said the day after the fire.

The fire commissioner's investigation report was finalized and sent to police in April 2020, the spokesperson told CBC News.

This past Tuesday, Sgt. Allen Boles of the Manitoba First Nations Police Service said investigators did interviews, but closed the case in April of 2021 because of insufficient evidence to proceed.

The First Nation's newly elected chief Trevor Prince says he didn't know the fire was officially deemed to be deliberately set until CBC News told him.

• Do you have information about this subject? Send tips to rachel.bergen@cbc.ca

"It's pretty upsetting that it had to go this way, because it's a setback to our community financially," he said in an interview last Tuesday.

That building was set to become the First Nation's band office before it burned down, he said.

The spokesperson for the Office of the Fire Commissioner refused to provide information on why the fire was deemed to be deliberately set.

Financial irregularities at CFS agency

Sandy Bay Child and Family Services made headlines lately over allegations of financial irregularities.

In June, the Southern First Nations Network of Care, which oversees First Nations child welfare agencies, took over administration of Sandy Bay CFS while an external auditing company was engaged to examine the agency's finances.

Last month, the Southern Chiefs Organization, which represents Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation, announced that Sandy Bay CFS executive director Richard De La Ronde had been fired in the wake of financial issues.

The chief says the Southern First Nations Network of Care is still administering the child welfare agency, and will continue to do so for the time being.

Chief Prince said the building that burned down carried insurance and that an insurance claim was paid to Sandy Bay Child and Family Services.

The Southern Chiefs Organization, which oversees the Southern First Nations Network of Care, wouldn't provide details about the insurance policy.